The End
by Xodarap
Summary: What if Season six had ended differently.


Title: The End

Author: Paradox761

Disclaimer: Joss and co. own all things Buffy, no copyright infringement is intended. So please don't sue, I don't have any money anyway.

Summary: Post "Wrecked", alt ending for season 6, and the series. B/W/X-friendship, Slight B/X and Ay/X.

Spoilers: "Wrecked", and most of season 6.

Author's note: For the purposes of characterization, in this story Spike did not attempt to rape Buffy. I am NOT a Spike fan, and this is NOT a fix-it fic. But I started this story before that happened, and I find it hard to write Spike as a sympathetic character after that scene. So to continue with the story as planned, that scene didn't happen. Also, this story takes place before the Angel episode "Sleep Tight". Also, I started this story after "Wrecked", as I was starting to become unhappy with the way season six was turning out. I must say though, I couldn't be happier with the way it ended. I could never top "Grave", nor would I try. So I've gone in a different direction with this. But I did paraphrase some lines from Xander's speech.

Dedication: To Jordan and Jessica, my angels. May they rest in peace.

Special thanks to: Wayne, Rob Clark, Ghostrider, Ozmandayus, Maggie C., Furious George, Bill, Calen, Chorlton, John, Wicked Raygun, DaBear, Cobra, Jeconais, Nathan Postmark, David, Drake Roberts, Angelus, Queen Boadicea, Scott, Malaskor, and The Crowe for the feedback and the encouragement with this story. I really appreciate it.

(1/12)

Willow paced back and forth in her lavishly decorated bedroom, her eyes black with concentration. She was casually arcing red colored magic between her fingertips as she thought. Every attempt she made to increase her power base had failed because of them. They were jealous, that's what it was, of how powerful she had become. So they tried to take it away from her, tell her that it was dangerous. What did they know about magic? Nothing! Who were they to tell her that she was out of control? Without her, they would be nothing. She had been the backbone of the group, the one who did all the difficult work. All Buffy had to do was kill things. They didn't know how difficult magic was, how much time it had taken her to grow as powerful as she had. How dare they try to take it away from her now, after all the work she had put into it.

But no, that wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to drive her away, to turn everyone against her. They couldn't just leave her in peace. Every artifact she tried to obtain to increase her power, they destroyed it. Every demon she summoned, they killed it. Every spell she cast, they broke it. At every step they were there to foil her plans.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Willow yelled in anger. Her hands, which were glowing completely red with magic at this point, shot out. The magic struck the lamp by her bed, shattering it into a million pieces and leaving a hole in the wall behind it.

Willow looked at the shatter lamp, her breathing ragged, her eyes still black. She willed herself to calm down and think. Outbursts like that weren't going to solve anything. Her eyes returned to their normal green, as she snapped her fingers. A wisp on green magic shot out, causing the lamp to gather itself back up, returning to it's original position on the nightstand, as well as fixing the hole in the wall.

"Calm down, Sweetie," the blonde lying in her bed said. "Why don't you come to bed, I'll make it all better," she cooed, pulling the covers back to reveal the rather skimpy negligee she was wearing.

"Not now Tara, I have to think," Willow said, going back to her pacing. "I haven't been going about this the right way. Maybe I've made a mistake."

"Impossible, you don't make mistakes Willow. You're as smart as they come," Tara said.

"I've let them get away with things that I never would have had they been anyone else. But I couldn't ignore that they were my friends at one point. I was still holding out hope that I could bring them around to my point of view, maybe even join forces again. But that won't ever be possible again, I have to face that. I have to start treating them as what they are." She paused. "My enemies. I can't let them interfere any more, it's time to end this." Willow stopped pacing and headed for the door of her bedroom. "Get dressed," she told Tara.

Tara pouted. "Ooh, I wanted you to come to bed, so we could…you know," she said, smiling coyly.

"Christ, Tara! It's five o'clock in the afternoon, we have work to do! Now do what I told you!" Willow said as she stormed out of the room.

Tara didn't bat an eyelash. "Yes, Willow," she said, standing up and heading for the dresser.

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Willow sauntered down the stairs of the remodeled mansion. It made the perfect base of operations and new home once Buffy decided that she wasn't welcome in hers anymore. It was large enough to keep all of her minions there, but still homey enough for her to be comfortable. At least, after a little magical redecorating by her and Amy it was. And her hacker skills had proved useful in making sure that the property and building were now legally hers.

As Willow stepped into the living room she was struck, and not for the first time, by how much the decor resembled Glory's apartment. 'Well,' she thought, 'She may have been an evil hell goddess, but she did have taste.'

Rak was sitting on the couch, looking up at Amy who was floating a few feet above him. Another plus about the old mansion, Willow thought. High ceilings.

"Rak, put her down," Willow said. "I'm going to need you both at your best tonight."

"You got something planned, Strawberry?" he asked in his usual mellow tone. Ever since Willow had surpassed the warlock in power, he had taken to hanging around her, grazing on her excess energy. Willow wouldn't let him cast spells on her anymore, but her aura alone was enough to keep him charged for days. Not to mention his regular cliental, Amy included.

Willow nodded. "I think it's time to take the fight to my former friends, and end their interference in my life once and for all."

Rak smiled. "About time," he said. "I've always wanted to cast on a slayer."

"Well, you just might get your chance. Where is the trio?"

"Same place they always are," Rak said. "Playing with their toys like good children."

Willow sighed and made her way to the dining room. Sure enough, that's where she found Jonathan and Andrew, sitting at the formal dining table, in front of them a plastic model of the Millennium Falcon. They were arguing about which had the cooler ships, the original trilogy or the prequels. She let out a growl of frustration and slammed her fist down on the table, through the model, causing both men to jump.

"Here sit two of the most brilliant minds in this town when it comes to magic and demonology, and this is how you choose to spend your leisure time. Building models and arguing about science fiction!"

"Sorry, Mistress."

"Sorry, Mistress."

Willow let out a sigh. While it was true that the pair in front of her could be incredibly annoying, it was also true that they were quite useful. Jonathan had researched most of the magic talismans and rituals that Willow had used to increase her power, and Andrew had summoned most of the demons that Willow had used for the same.

"I want you two to get ready. Gather all the gadgets and talismans and demon-whistles that you have in your bag of tricks. We're going to take the fight to the slayer, tonight."

"The slayer? Tonight?" Andrew stammered nervously.

"Did I stutter?" Willow asked around clenched teeth.

"No, Mistress," Andrew answered. "We'll get ready right away."

"Good. And I wouldn't be so nervous if I were you. We've got the magic, the technology, the numbers. The only one who should be nervous right now…is the slayer."

"Yes, Mistress," They both chorused.

"Where's Warren?"

"He's in his lab," Jonathan answered.

"Good. If you see Tara on your way upstairs, send her there," she said, heading for the basement door that led to Warren's lab.

"Yes, Mistress," Jonathan said. "Oh, and um, Mistress?"

Willow didn't even turn around, she just waved her arm backward and the broken model on the table rejoined itself. Jonathan and Andrew smiled. "Thank you, Mistress," They chorused. Andrew grabbed the model and they both headed upstairs to get ready.

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Willow descended the stairs into Warren's makeshift laboratory. To the untrained eye it looked like a mess. There was a desk coved with computer print outs at one end, with a bookshelf behind it filled with technical manuals and specs. A counter, with a computer monitor at one end and several other large pieces of equipment that Willow didn't immediately recognized ran the length of the far wall. The entire room was strewn with pieces of electronics and half-finished projects. Warren was sitting at the workbench in the middle of the room, a magnifying visor over his eyes, soldering a piece of circuitry. But Willow knew that clutter was just a sign of genius, and Warren was certainly that. A brilliant technical mind, an expert in robotics, and a knowledge of computers that rivaled her own. She had had first hand experience with his expertise, when she reprogrammed the Buffy-bot. It was from that that she knew she wanted him on her side.

"Warren!" She shouted to get his attention when she realized that he hadn't heard her come in.

He jumped at her voice, nearly burning himself with the soldering iron he was holding. "What!" he asked harshly. Willow glared at him. "I mean, what can I do for you Willow?" he amended. Willow smiled. Warren wasn't as subservient to her as his two friends were, he was the alpha of his little trio, but he knew to keep his tone respectful when he spoke to her.

"I've decided that it's time to bring the fight to Buffy and the others. I've had enough of their meddling."

Warren smiled. "Sounds like fun," he said. "Tonight?"

Willow nodded. "Is the weapon ready?"

Warren turned around to the counter behind him. He pushed away some equipment and picked up a device that resembled something out of a Star Trek episode. "It's ready. I just finished calibrating the diamond. My original calculations were right, it's the perfect prism for focusing the beam."

"Have you tested it yet?"

Warren shook his head. "I haven't had a chance."

"Well, you'll get a chance tonight. What were you working on just now?"

"Some of the shavings I took from the diamond were large enough to make smaller prisms." He lifted two cylindrical objects from the workbench to show Willow. "New toys. I only finished two, I was working on the third when you came in."

Willow nodded. "Give them to Jonathan and Andrew, you take that," she said, pointing to the weapon in his other hand. "If anything goes wrong with it, you're the best person to fix it." Warren nodded. "I want you to make a few modifications to the robot as well. Download the fighting subroutines you used for the Buffy-bot. If magic and technology should happen to fail, she'll make a nice last resort. At the very least, she'll be a distraction."

"I didn't build her frame for fighting, I built it for...well, you know. She might not be able to take the punishment."

"You didn't build April for fighting either, but as I recall, she held her own pretty well. Besides, if she gets destroyed, you'll just have to build me another one."

Warren let out a sigh as he thought about all the time and work it takes to build a robot as sophisticated as the one he had built for Willow. "Yes, of course," he said, rather unenthusiastically.

It was then that the basement door opened and Tara came down the steps, dressed in a sweater and long skirt. "Hello Willow. Jonathan said that you wanted me to come down here."

Willow turned from Tara to Warren without answering her. "I'll leave you to your work then. Try to make it snappy, I'd like to surprise them on their normal patrol, so we only have a few hours. And get her some clothes she can fight in too."

"Right," Warren said. Willow nodded and headed up the stairs, Tara's eyes on her the whole way. Warren cleared off his workbench. "Okay Tara-bot, hop up here. I just need to make a few modifications to your program." Tara-bot was only programmed to obey two people. First and foremost, Willow. And secondly, her creator, Warren, so that he could make program modifications and repairs without having her ask Willow if it was okay to do every little thing he asked her.

"Okay," Tara-bot said, hoping up on the bench.

Warren grabbed the cable to link the computer to Tara-bot and lifted the back of her sweater to get to her access panel. "I wonder if any of the clothes I have from the Buffy-bot will fit you," he wondered to himself idly.

(2/12)

Xander walked into the Magic Box to find Anya and Dawn sitting at the main research table. Anya was counting the day's till, and Dawn was pretending to do her homework. "Have you guys seen this?" he asked, tossing a newspaper onto the table?

"What?" Dawn asked as Anya turned the paper around to face them both.

"Bank robbery in LA over the weekend," Xander said. "Three guys in Star Wars masks. Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and a storm trooper."

"Let me guess, the security cameras were frozen solid," Dawn said as Anya read the article.

"Camera-sicles. They cleaned out the tellers' drawers, then…"

"They used some kind of device to override the safe's computerized lock," Anya read from the newspaper.

"They got away with nearly $200,000," Xander continued. "Then they locked everyone in the safe. It took the cops two hours to get it open."

"Eyewitnesses on the street said the robbers escaped in a black van," Anya read. She looked up at Xander. "The Trio."

"Exactly!"

"So?"

"What do you mean so? We have to do something about this."

"What are we going to do Xander, they're human," Anya said. "It isn't our job to catch bank robbers, that's what the police are for."

"But we know who did it," Xander insisted. "We have to do something. Maybe we can phone in an anonymous tip to the cops."

"And have them showing up at the mansion?" Anya asked. "Willow and Rak will make mincemeat out of them."

Xander let out a frustrated sigh and took a seat across from Dawn. "Yeah, you're right. I just hate this, you know. We've never had an enemy before that we couldn't fight." He paused, casting a glance toward Dawn. "Not that Willow is our enemy, you know. She's just a little confused right now, and we're just trying to help her."

"Save it, Xander," Dawn said. "I understand what's going on, you don't have to sugar coat it for me. I'm not a kid anymore."

"I know Dawnie, you're right," he said solemnly. "It's just…this whole situation, it's hard on all of us. Sometimes I have to sugar coat things for myself too, you know."

Dawn just nodded a little and gave Xander a little half smile to let him know that she was okay. Of course, she really wasn't, none of them were. They hadn't been since Willow blew up and took off. The withdrawal she was feeling from not using magic was just too much for her to take, and it sent her right over the edge. She had resented them for trying to get her to stop using magic. She accused them of being jealous. And the more they asserted that they were just trying to look out for her because they loved her, and they didn't want her to hurt herself or anyone else, the angrier she became, accusing them of not trusting her. She tried to tell them that she needed to use magic, to help with the slaying. That she didn't need to stop all together, that she could be trusted. And while Xander didn't know much about magic, he knew about addicts, and he knew when someone was trying to justify an addiction when he heard it. Willow didn't much like being called an addict, and responded to the perceived personal attack with one of her own. It had only been the three of them that night in the Magic box, the slayer and her original slayerettes, and Xander was glad of that. Some of the things that were said that evening made him cringe when he thought about it. Things that could never be forgiven, even if forgiveness was asked. He often wished that he could forget that night all together, just wipe it and all the pain it caused from his mind, but he knew he would never be able to. She was vicious, like a cornered animal, and while Xander was used to personal attacks thanks to his parents and in no small part Cordelia, Buffy was not. Or at least she wasn't used to hearing them from friends. Xander suspected that she never really got over that, the emotional attacks that had been inflicted on them both. They both promised never to repeat what had been said, not to anyone. Xander had kept that promise, and he was sure Buffy had too.

Xander had tried to lay a comforting hand on Willow's shoulder, to calm her down and stop the verbal onslaught that she had been unleashing on Buffy. Willow knocked him half way across the room, right through a glass shelf. And when Buffy tried to restrain her, she knocked her even farther, and took off into the night. That was the last time they had seen Willow in person. She had kept in contact with them though, letters, phone calls. She wanted to show them that she could be responsible with her powers. She thought that she could do that by becoming more powerful. At least that's what she told herself the reason was, to prove herself. She thought that with great power would come better control, but the dark magiks she had conjured began to affect her. The more powerful she became, the more powerful she wanted to become. She would tell them about talismans she had acquired to increase her power, taking pride in her increased skill, yet ignoring the fact that she had stolen these items. And that on more than one occasion, the original owner had ended up dead, by Rak's hand they had deduced. She would tell them about demons she had conjured, again, ignoring the fact that once she was done with them, they went on a killing spree. Sacrifices had to be made sometimes, she would say, for the greater good. As to what good she thought she was doing, it was never clear. They had all pleaded with her at one time or another to see reason, but she was too far gone. The power had affected her in more ways than she was willing to admit. It had darkened her soul.

That's what Tara had told them, before she left town. She tried to keep track of Willow's power, and after a while it wasn't hard. It had grown so much, that it radiated though the whole town. And it was dark magic, of that she was sure. It attracted witches and warlocks from all over the state, leading them straight to Willow's door, and Rak's waiting hands. It was when Willow cast a spell to lure Tara to the mansion that she had gone past the point of no return in most of their eyes. She wanted Rak to cast a spell on her, to feed off of her power. She must have thought that if she got Tara addicted they way she had been, and Amy still was, then she would stay with her. They managed to get Tara out just in time. She left after that. She was afraid of Willow, more than she ever thought possible. And she just couldn't handle the emotional stress anymore. Xander couldn't blame her. Willow's seeming quest for godhood was taking it's toll on all of them. They were falling apart because of it. And Xander was finding himself wondering if there was any of 'their' Willow left inside the redheaded witch. The mere thought almost brought him to tears.

"Where's Buffy at?" He asked, trying to take his mind off of such thoughts.

"She's training with Spike," Anya said.

"Again," Dawn added in an irritated sounding tone. But Xander knew that what it really was, was concern.

"Now Dawn, I know that Buffy has been spending a lot of time with him lately, and it's a bit…" Xander paused, searching for a word.

"Weird?" Dawn supplied.

"To say the least," Xander murmured. "Buffy's just under a lot of stress right now, she has a lot on her plate. I mean, no sooner had she come back from the dead before everything started falling in her lap again. Giles leaving, this whole thing with Willow. She's just trying to catch her breath. And spending time and talking with Spike makes her feel better because…well, I don't really know why. But it does, so we should just give her time to work everything out. She's still here for you Dawn, and so are me and Anya." Anya looked up and smiled, giving Dawn a nod. The two of them had really grown much closer since Tara left.

"I know guys, and I appreciate that. I'm just worried about her. I mean, you don't think…" she trailed off. "What I mean is, this is kind of how her and Angel started out, isn't it?"

"What? No! I mean, no! That's just…no!" Xander exclaimed, rather in shock. "The situations are completely different." He paused in thought. "Well, slightly different." He paused again. "For the most part. Look, the point is, despite everything Spike has done to help us, and despite his feelings for Buffy, she could never return them."

"Yeah, but you don't have to be in love with somebody to get horizontal with them," Dawn said.

"She's right," Anya said without looking up.

Xander flashed Anya a 'you're not helping' look before turning back to Dawn. "Okay, first of all, where did you learn that kind of language?" Dawn just looked at him. "And second, Buffy wouldn't do that either."

"Right, 'cause Buffy always makes the right decisions when it comes to relationships," Dawn said, dripping with sarcasm.

Xander rolled his eyes. "If there's one thing that a string of bad relationships will give you, it's lessons learned. And from Parker Abrams, she learned that meaningless sex can be emotionally costly and painful. And from Angel, the second time around, she learned that keeping secrets from your friends regarding vampire smoochies can, and will, be enormously disastrous. Trust me, she would never make that mistake again."

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Buffy pushed Spike up against the wall of the training room forcefully, pressing her lips to his. His hands where in her hair, pulling her face into his as he returned the kiss with just as much vigor. Her hands clawed down his chest a ways, and stopped. Suddenly, she pushed off of his chest and away from him.

"No!" she growled, partly at him but mostly at herself.

"What's the matter pet, not rough enough for you," Spike said with his trademark leer, advancing on her again.

"I mean it, back off!" Buffy said a little more forcefully, pushing him away. "This is insane, and it ends now. And if you…"

"Tell anyone, you'll stake me dead," Spike finished. "Not to be a doubting Thomas Luv, but I've heard that before. You got it written down on a card or something?" Buffy just glared at him. Spike smirked. "Face it Luv, you want me. You need me. I'm like a drug in your system, and you just can't get…"

Spike was cut off by the right cross Buffy delivered across his face. "The only thing I need you for, is as a moving target," Buffy growled through clenched teeth. "Now are we going to spar, or what?"

Spike just smirked again. "Have it your way, pet," he said, taking a fighting stance.

The two of them squared off, sizing each other up. They traded a few light jabs and kicks, nothing serious. Spike thought that once Buffy found out that Spike's chip didn't work with her anymore, she wouldn't want to spar with him anymore. But she wanted to now more than ever. He didn't understand it. It wasn't long before the practice blows became more serious. Spike dodged two punches, and delivered a kick to her ribs. She grunted and spun around, backhanding Spike across the face rather hard.

"Jesus, slayer! This is just supposed to be practice, what's got your panties in a bunch?"

"Less talking, more fighting," she said, advancing on him again.

The punches came faster now, and Spike barely had time to block them. He tried to counterpunch, but she was just too fast. He caught one in the chest, and he sent him flying across the room, into the fighting dummy.

Spike picked himself up off the floor and rolled his head, cracking his neck. "So that's how you want to play," he muttered. "Fine by me."

He had more time to prepare before Buffy came down on him again. He dodged one punch, grabbing her arm and bringing his knee up into her ribs, hard. Buffy grunted in pain and twisted her arm away, getting in an uppercut, and a kick to the midsection. Spike spun away, coming back with a flurry of punches, one of which caught Buffy across the face. She spun away from it, coming back around with another backhand that nearly knocked Spike's head off.

Spike backed up and the pair started circling each other again. "What's got you all worked up, pet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, I know you well enough to know when you're fighting 'cause you're pissed at me and when you're fighting 'cause you're pissed at the world and you've just decided to take it out on me. So what is it? Bills piling up?" Buffy took a cursory swing, which Spike easily dodged. "Niblet slacking off in school?" Another easily dodged punch. "Miss the watcher, do you?" A kick this time, which Spike barely managed to deflect. "Ooh, I'm getting closer. Could it be Red and her new little band of half-wits? What's the matter Luv, making an enemy out of a former friend not as easy as the reverse?" The punch that caught Spike on the chin sent him into the air and half way across the room. He could feel his jaw break. He landed hard, and slowly made it up to his feet. He touched his fingers to his lips and pulled them back to see blood on them. "Pay dirt," he said.

"Shut-up! You don't know anything! You hear me, nothing!"

"Oh, come off your high horse, slayer!" Spike shouted. "You think you're the only one in pain here? You think you're the only one whose life has turned to shit in the last month and a half? Look around you, at your so-called friends, at your sister. Hell, at me even. We're not exactly peaches and cream you know!" Spike pointed to the door. "The whelp out there has known her longer than any of us, and yet he's managed to push aside his pain for the sake of his girl and the Little Bit. You don't see him running away, wallowing in self pity and regret."

"Go to hell, you bastard," Buffy said, the quiet rage in her voice unmistakable. "You don't know me, you don't understand. Nobody could possibly understand!"

"Fine. You keep telling yourself that, Luv. Maybe one day you'll believe it."

Buffy screamed with fury as she attacked. Her arms and legs were a blur as they struck out at the blonde haired vampire. Spike tried to block as much as he could but she was just too fast. One last punch sent him flying into a cement wall, cracking the bricks. He looked up at her where she still stood in the middle of the room, fists clenched in rage. He wiped the blood away from his face.

"I think I understand you better than you think," he said.

"I hate you."

"Come now, Luv," Spike said. "Our dance has always been more complicated than that."

"What the hell is going on here?"

Buffy and Spike both turned to see Xander standing in the doorway. Buffy grabbed her jacket off the pummel horse and headed for the door. "Just getting ready for patrol," she said, brushing past him. Xander looked after her for a second, before turning back to Spike. He walked into the room and gave him a hand up.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"No worries," Spike said. "She was just working off some aggression. I'm sure she'll feel better once she kills something."

Xander nodded, Spike could tell that he was buying it. Apparently Buffy wasn't the only one who believed in occupational therapy. Spike had come to respect the boy a great deal over the last month or so since Willow's turn to the dark side. He had been a rock of support for Dawn, and even though she continually brushed him off, he tried to be there for Buffy too. Plus he wasn't half bad in a fight. It was ironic, that his respect for this boy…no, man, would come so soon after this thing with Buffy started. He knew that if Xander found out, he would stake him without batting an eye. After everything they had been through, to have formed this strange sort of mutual respect was odd enough as it was. But to have it collapse because of the love of a woman, it was downright Shakespearean.

"Well then, let's get to it," Xander said, shaking Spike out of his thoughts.

"Right," Spike said. He watched as Xander grabbed a sword off the wall and headed out the door after Buffy. He picked up his duster and slid it on, thinking about how there just didn't seem to be any good solutions in what was to come. He took out a cigarette and lit it as he walked to the door. He took a long drag, and let it out. "Bloody hell," he muttered to himself.

(3/12)

Willow, Rak, and the Trio entered Rosewood Cemetery through the main entrance. Willow chose Rosewood as the place to ambush Buffy and the others because she knew that it was one of the last cemeteries on their patrol route. By the time they made it here, they would be tired. Plus it gave them more time to prepare. Willow was dressed as was per usual for her lately, in leather and silk. A leather corset, and a blood red silk ankle length skirt, flowing around her regally. Jonathan and Andrew both wore the cylindrical objects Warren had made for them on their waists, and they both wore backpacks which were filled with all sorts of interesting toys. The device Warren carried fit over his right arm almost like a gauntlet, coming up to his elbow. And on the end of it was a very large diamond, it's point facing out.

"Is the robot in position?" Willow asked.

Warren took a device off of his belt with his left hand and looked at the small display screen. "Yes," he answered. "I can signal her with the remote unit to start the program whenever you're ready."

"Quite ingenious," Rak said. "Using the robot like that."

"Yes, well, pitting her directly against Buffy wouldn't have served much of a purpose other than to slow her down, and it would have tipped our hand. This way, we keep the element of surprise. Plus, I think I can take Buffy on my own," Willow said. Rak smiled. "I'm going to have to now, considering that Amy is incapacitated," she added, throwing Rak a glare. His smile quickly disappeared. "All right, get into position everyone. I'll signal you when it's time to strike." The others nodded and started off in separate directions. "Oh, and one more thing. If any of you screw this up, I'll kill you," she added almost casually.

Jonathan and Andrew visibly gulped. Warren pushed them forward. "Come on, move."

Willow smiled to herself. Buffy was in for a real surprise tonight. One way or the other, this was going to end.

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Patrol had been quiet that night, just a couple vampires in the park looking for a quick meal. Buffy took care of one, and Xander got the other, decapitating it with his sword. They were sweeping Rosewood Cemetery, the last one on their route, when Xander spotted something strange. "What the hell is that?" he asked, pointing off into the distance, into a grove of trees.

Buffy and Spike both followed Xander's gaze, where they saw a strange glowing red light coming from somewhere beyond the trees. "A fire maybe?" Buffy speculated.

"I don't smell anything," Spike said.

"Neither do I," Buffy said. She seemed to think for a moment before starting towards the strange light, Spike and Xander followed closely. They walked through the trees a little before reaching a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing, about ten feet off the ground, there was a glowing red ball of…something. Buffy circled it cautiously for a few moments.

"What is it?" Xander asked to no one in particular.

"It's a diversion." All three of them spun around at the sound of that voice. On the other side of the clearing stood a disheveled looking man with brown hair.

"Rak!" Buffy yelled.

Buffy, Xander, and Spike all started toward him, Xander raising his sword. Rak threw out his hand, causing Buffy and Spike to be thrown back by some invisible force. But Xander kept coming. Rak looked surprised by this, but he barely had time to think of an explanation before he narrowly dodged Xander's first swipe with his sword. Xander swung twice more, catching him in the leg with the last one. Rak howled out in pain and fell to the ground, rolling away.

That's when Xander heard a very familiar sound. A sound that he couldn't immediately place. When he turned around, he saw something that he never in his wildest dreams ever imagined possible. In front of him stood Jonathan Levinson, holding a light saber. An actual, honest to goodness light saber. He took a stance with it, it's blue blade glowing enough to show the smile that Jonathan had on his face. He looked like a child with a new toy. Buffy and Spike were getting to their feet now, and looking on with a mixture of curiosity and anger. But Jonathan kept his eyes on Xander.

"Xander," he said.

Xander said the first thing that came to mind. "Obi-Wan." Andrew and Warren stepped into view next to Jonanthan. Andrew took his own light saber off of his belt and activated it, taking a similar stance as Jonathan. His blade light up green. "And Luke," Xander added.

"Qui-Gon actually," Andrew said.

Warren smacked Andrew on the back of the head. "Kill him!" he yelled.

Xander immediately brought his sword back up as Jonathan and Andrew advanced on him. Their stances had been copied from the movies that they had each no doubt seen hundreds of times, but as they ran towards him, swords held out, Xander knew that neither of them had probably ever held a real sword in their lives. His mind flashed briefly on the picture of a younger version of himself and his friend Jesse, ten years old and having just seen the movie, swinging cardboard wrapping paper rolls at each other and making the light saber noises with their mouths. The two wannabe Jedi's heading towards Xander now had about as much technique and grace as the two ten year olds had had. Had Xander's life not been in danger, he might have even laughed at the sight.

Xander deflected the first few swipes with ease, the usual clang of sword combat replaced with a sizzle and the scent of burnt metal. Xander didn't slow down though. He parried a sloppy thrust from Jonathan, then brought the butt of his sword down on his back, sending him to the ground. At the same time hi lashed out with his foot, catching Andrew in the mid-section, knocking him down as well.

Buffy had been watching the exchange when she turned around and realized that Rak was gone. When she turned her attention back to the fray, getting ready to jump in, she saw Willow walking out from between the trees. She said something to Warren, who nodded in return. Buffy realized that something strange was going on, Willow had never openly attacked them before. She made a move to enter the fight, when something stopped her. A red energy bolt struck the ground inches from Buffy's feet. The sound that echoed off the trees seemed to grab everyone's attention. The fight stopped, and Xander backed away when he spotted Willow.

"Hello Buffy," Willow said, a strange smile on her face. "Xander, Spike," she added.

"What the hell is this Willow?" Buffy yelled.

"It's the end Buffy, that's what this is," Willow answered. "The end of your interference in my affairs. We've been dancing around each other long enough, don't you think?"

"Willow, listen to me…" Buffy started.

"No! I've done nothing but listen to you since the day we met! It's my turn now. It's about control Buffy, that's what you've always been about. You always have to be the one in control, of everything, even your friends. Well I'm the one in control now. Of myself, of my magic…" She smiled. "Of more than you could ever comprehend. And that's never going to change, no matter how much you fight it. That mousy little girl that you used to push around doesn't exist anymore. And I will NOT be bullied! Nor will I tolerate your meddling anymore. So choose."

"Choose? Choose what?"

"You can't have it both ways Buffy. You're either my friend, or my enemy. Either you let me be, or…I'll be forced to take action. I think we understand each other."

Buffy locked eyes with Xander, and unspoken communication happening between the two of them. She turned back to Willow. "I am your friend Willow, we all are." She paused. "Which is why we won't stop trying to help you. Can't you see, what's happened to you, how much you've changed? These dark magiks that you've gotten into have affected your…"

"Silence! What you think you know of magic is NOTHING!" Willow shouted. "Compared to what I know. You have no right to lecture me about anything! The magic that I choose to practice is my business, not yours."

"When you put innocent people in danger, it becomes my business," Buffy said, her voice showing her anger.

Willow paused. "Inconsequential."

"Not to me it isn't," Buffy said. "It didn't used to be for you either."

"Things change," Willow replied, the anger gone from her voice. She closed her eyes, holding her arms away from her waist, her hands up. After a moment, she started to levitate off the ground. She was about five feet off the ground when she opened her eyes, which were pitch black. "You've made your decision than," she said, her voice sounding almost sad. "You've left me no choice." Rak limped out from between the trees, standing close to Willow. He closed his eyes, like he was concentrating. Willow brought her hands across her mid-section, one atop the other, her palms facing together. She began to chant, as swirls of red energy flowed over her body. Wisps of energy started to come off of Rak, drifting up to where Willow floated. It mixed with her own and started to collect in a sphere shape between her hands.

Buffy, Xander and Spike all started to back up a little. "I'm open to suggestions," Buffy said.

"Fall back, regroup," Xander proposed.

"I'll second that," Spike said, looking up at the witch hovering in front of them.

"All in favor, say aye."

"Aye," Spike and Xander chorused.

"Motion carried, scatter!" Buffy commanded. And with that, the three of them took off running in three different directions.

The Trio just looked at each other, not sure what to do. Willow and Rak were both concentrating too hard to notice that their enemies had escaped. After a few moments, Willow threw her hands out, and the energy attack shot out, striking the ground where adversaries once stood. Willow floated back down to the ground, closing her eyes and opening them again, returning them to normal. She looked at the smoking, black hole in the ground, and at the lack of any corpses.

Rak lowered himself to the ground to rest a moment, he was wiped. The Trio stood off to the side, huddled together and cringing. Willow fixed a glare on them that would make a grown man wet himself.

"You MORONS! The three of you only had one job during this spell, ONE JOB! Keep them from running away! And you couldn't even do that right!" Willow's eyes had gone back to black, and energy crackled across her hands as she clenched and unclenched her fists.

"Wwwe'e sssorry, Mistress," Jonathan stuttered out, trembling with fear. "They tttook us bbby surprise."

"Well no shit! A glacier could take you idiots by surprise!" She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "They have designated fall back positions in every cemetery, where they regroup if they ever get separated." The Trio just stood there, staring at her in fear. "Well, what are you waiting for, FIND THEM!"

All three of them jumped, bumping into each other as they tried to carry out her order as quickly as they could. Warren finally manhandled the other two into facing the same direction and led them off to search for their enemies.

Willow just shook her head as she watched them. It took all of the will power she had to not kill them now, but unfortunately she still needed them. She turned and started in the other direction, walking over to Rak. She reached out her hand and snapped her fingers. A wisp of green energy shot out from her hand, wrapping around Rak's injured leg like a snake. After a few moments, the gash Xander had inflicted with his sword started to close. In seconds, it closed completely, leaving it looking absolutely unmarred. She took his hand and pulled him up to his feet. "Let's go," she said, all business. She stalked off through the cemetery. Rak followed closely behind, recharging himself from her aura. He had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

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Xander ran around the back of the Wilson mausoleum, which was their fall back position for Rosewood. Buffy and Spike were already there, sitting on the ground with their backs leaning against the stone structure. Spike was smoking a cigarette, looking generally pissed off. Buffy was just staring off into space, looking shocked. Xander leaned against the building, trying to catch his breath. After a moment he lowered himself to the ground, sitting next to Spike against the crypt. He glanced over at them as he still tried to regain his breath. The two of them, who were breathing (or not breathing) normally, looked back.

"You guys suck," Xander muttered, slightly resentful of their enhanced stamina.

"She tried to kill us," Buffy said.

Spike took one final drag off of his cigarette before tossing it into the bushes. "Bloody hell, I knew this was going to happen," he muttered.

Xander let his sword drop to the ground next to him, leaning his had back against the concrete wall. His thoughts were racing a mile a minute. Willow, his Willow, had just tried to kill them. If he hadn't seen it himself, he never would have believed it. The best friend he had ever had, the gentlest soul he had ever known, the sweetest, kindest person in his life, had just tried to take that life away. She had finally reached that point that they had all feared would come since this whole thing started. The point of no return. This wasn't his Willow anymore. His Willow was gone, forever. "It's too late," he whispered, the tears that were threatening to come sneaking into his voice.

Spike turned and looked at him, a look of understanding on his face as he nodded slightly. He knew this would happen. He already knew she was too far gone, and that it was just a matter of time before she pushed it far enough for the others to see it too. It was his nature, to see the worst in people. But Xander had always held out hope for his best friend, hope that there was some kind of solution to all of this. But that hope was dead now, and Spike knew that a little piece of Xander had died right along with it. He was tempted to offer comfort to him, but he wasn't sure how to, or how it would be received.

"She tried to kill us," Buffy said again. While Xander had processed that information and the emotions that went with it relatively quickly, Buffy was still having trouble wrapping her mind around that one thought.

"You're not getting past that any time soon, are you Luv?" Spike asked, turning to the slayer.

Xander threw the vampire a brief glare as he crawled over to where Buffy sat, kneeling in front of her. "Buffy, I need you to listen to me," he started in a calming voice. "I know that the urge to freak out and lose it is pretty overwhelming right now. I'm right there with you, believe me. But you have to stay focused." Buffy looked up at Xander and he could see the tears forming in her eyes reflecting the moonlight. Under normal circumstances, he would pull her into a hug and let her cry it out, but they didn't have time for that right now.

"She tried to kill us, Xander. Our Willow. What happened, what did I do wrong? I did everything I could, I tried to be there for her when she needed me. I did the best that I could, I really did. How could this happen, I…"

"Buffy," Xander interrupted, his own tears starting to come back. "Stop. We can't do this right now. She's still out there, and we're still in danger. We have to get through this first, there are people counting on us."

"We've already failed," Buffy whimpered.

"And what about Dawn?" Xander asked. Buffy looked up, her expression changing slightly. "If we die tonight, who's going to protect her?"

Buffy just looked at Xander for a moment, his eyes pleading with her. After a few seconds, she wiped her face with her hand. "You're right," she said. "Okay, we have to get through this first. Then we can figure out what we need to do." Xander nodded. Buffy reached out a squeezed his hand, saying thank you.

"So what's the plan?" Spike asked.

"Well, we're outnumbered and outgunned," Xander said. "Military strategy would suggest that we go guerilla."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"We split up, play to our strengths. Don't fight to win, just fight to buy time for an escape."

"Okay, I have a stupid question," Spike piped up. "Why don't we just escape now?"

Xander shook his head. "We'd never make it. They've had too much time to regroup. We probably don't have much time before they find us again. We have to strike, then retreat." Spike looked like he still didn't understand. "It's like in boxing, stick and move. If you don't stick before you move, you're going to get hit."

Spike nodded. "I get it. So who does what?"

"Well, I think you should take Rak," Xander said.

"Why? You were the one who was unaffected by his magic. Why is that anyway?"

Xander seemed to think for a moment before reaching into his shirt and pulling out something that had been around his neck. An amulet of some sort. "It must be this. Anya gave it to me a few weeks ago. She called it a protection amulet. I guess she thought I could use a little extra protection. It's supposed to block certain forms of dark magic. I guess that includes whatever form Rak uses." He tossed the amulet to Spike.

"Well that's all fine and good, but he's still human. I can't hurt humans, remember," Spike said.

"Actually, I'm not sure that that's entirely true," Xander said. He didn't see the look that passed between Buffy and Spike. "The chip isn't a demon detector, it's a behavior modifier. It works on your perceptions and intentions. If you perceive someone as human, and intend to hurt them, it goes off. As for Rak, his heart's blacker than yours. If you perceive him to be evil, human or not, I'm willing to bet that the chip won't react." Once again, Xander didn't catch the look on Buffy's face, curiosity mixed with fear.

"Willing to bet what, my life?" Spike asked incredulously.

"You'll have the amulet Spike, you'll be fine. If it turns out I'm wrong, just let him wear himself out chasing you," Xander said with a smile.

Now it was Spike's turn to glare. "You're all heart, Droopy," he said, putting the amulet around his neck and tucking it inside his shirt.

"Just be sure to keep the amulet hidden, no reason to tip our hand. As for me, I'll take Moe, Larry and Curly," Xander continued.

Spike snorted. "With what, a melted sword?" he said, holding up Xander's sword. It was melted and twisted in several places.

Xander took the sword and looked it over. "It's okay, I'm not going to need it for much longer anyway. I have a plan." He plunged the sword into the dirt and turned to face Buffy again. "That leaves you to take Willow, Buffy. Are you going to be able to handle it?"

Buffy nodded. "I'll be fine," she said, trying to keep her tone flat. She pushed against the wall and stood up. "We should get moving, we don't have much time." Already the emotion seemed to be gone from her voice, Xander noticed. Already, she was shutting him out again.

Xander and Spike stood up too. "Once we get away, meet back at Buffy's house," Xander said. The other two nodded. "Good luck, both of you." They nodded and all three of them started to move off in separate directions, seeking out their opponents.

Spike pulled a cigarette out if it's pack as he walked away. Screwing it into his lips, he lit it and took a drag. "We're going to need it," he muttered to himself.

(4/12)

Xander didn't have to go far before he spotted them. It wasn't difficult. Warren was walking in front, with the other two behind him in flanking positions. They kept whispering back and forth, and Warren kept telling them to shut up. They were trying so hard to be quiet and stealthy, and they were failing so miserably that it was almost comical. They stepped on every twig and leaf in their path, they fidgeted with their weapons, not to mention the fact that almost all of the electronic devices Warren was carrying emitted a hum of some kind. They might as well have been a marching band as far as Xander was concerned. After years of patrolling with Buffy, he had learned how to be quiet, and how to listen.

Xander climbed up into a tree as quickly and silently as he could, toting his melted sword along with him. He watched, and he waited.

"I just don't understand," Andrew whispered. "We had the superior weaponry, and we outnumbered him. How did he beat us so easily?"

"Obviously these light sabers aren't as powerful as the real thing," Jonathan commented. "Or they would have cut right through that sword of his like butter."

"There is no 'real thing' you moron!" Warren scream-whispered. "And the reason he beat you so easily is because he was a better swordsman. We've obviously underestimated his fighting ability."

Xander smiled at that as the Trio passed under the tree he was perched in. He had never had an opponent who respected him before. It was kind of a nice feeling. Truth be told, had the situation been different, he might have been friends with these men. After all, the reason he was such a good swordsman was due in part to the hours upon hours of play light saber duels he and Jesse had had as children. Xander was a fanboy too, he admitted it. He just knew where to draw the line.

"And for the last time, will you two please shut-up!" Warren added.

Xander took the opportunity to drop down from his perch behind them, unheard. "Jeez, you guys are about as stealthy as a drunken sumo wrestler with a bell around his neck."

The Trio whirled around in surprise to see Xander standing there, smiling at them. He caught Andrew in the face with his fist before he even had a chance pull his light saber. Jonathan drew his and activated it, taking a swing at Xander, but he spun away. Xander used the momentum in the spin to swing his own sword at Warren, who instinctively raised his right arm to block it. The sword buried itself about an inch into the weapon that Warren wore on his forearm, sending sparks flying from the broken electronics.

"Shit!" Warren cursed, as Xander pried his sword free.

Andrew was still holding his nose from the punch Xander had thrown, standing in between Jonathan and Xander. Warren was trying to pull the sparking weapon off of his forearm. Xander raised his sword in a defensive stance, keeping Andrew between him and Jonathan.

"Damn it, Andrew! Don't just stand there, do something!" Warren yelled, finally having pulled the device free from his arm. He was inspecting the damage the sword strike had caused.

Andrew looked up, still holding his probably broken nose with one hand. He reached for his light saber, and that's when Xander struck. He raised his sword in the air, but while everyone was looking at the sword, Xander lashed out with his foot, striking Andrew in the hand and sending his light saber flying through the air. Xander lowered his own sword, pointing it at Andrew's chest as he snatched the light saber out of the air.

"Yoink!" he said with a smile. He dropped his sword and activated the light saber, taking a stance with it.

Andrew gulped, he looked scared stiff. Jonathan just looked nervous, as he tightened his grip on his light saber. "Andrew, get the hell out of the way!"

"When I left you, I was but a student. Now I am the master," Xander quoted, still smiling.

"Just keep him stalled until I fix this!" Warren called out, still trying to fix his weapon.

Andrew dashed out of the way. Xander could see him out of the corner of his eye, fishing through his backpack. He knew that couldn't be good.

Jonathan took advantage of Xander's distraction and struck. Xander blocked the strike deftly, and countered with one of his own. The two energy blades crackled as they made contact. They traded a few more blows, Xander driving Jonathan back a few steps towards a tree. Jonathan made a sloppy thrust, which Xander easily knocked away, following it with a leg sweep. Jonathan landed hard on his back, his light saber falling out of his hand and deactivating. Xander stood over him, his own light saber held out so that the tip was only a few inches from Jonathan's chest.

"There can be only one," Xander said. Jonathan looked confused. "Oh, wait, wrong movie," Xander corrected, smiling at his own joke.

Just then Xander heard a decidedly inhuman growl from behind him. He turned in time to see two hulking demons with green reptilian skin and horns coming at him. "I knew I should have knocked that little shit unconscious when I had the chance," he muttered to himself as the demons began to charge him, heads down and horns out, like a rhino. Xander stood his ground, readying himself to make his move. And just as the demons were about to gore him, he stepped aside.

"Olé!" Xander yelled out, leaving Jonathan lying on the ground, looking up at the oncoming demons.

"Oh, shit!" he yelled, trying to roll away. The first demon ran straight into the tree behind him, and the second tripped over him, sending him crashing to the ground.

Xander brought his light saber up and swung it down again, decapitating the first demon who was still trying to free himself from where his horn had impaled the tree. His body fell to the ground, but his head remained stuck to the tree, dripping purple goop. The odor that struck Xander almost immediately afterwards was putrid to say the least. He could feel the bile threatening to rise in his throat.

He came around the tree in time to see Jonathan crawling away, clutching his midsection, and the second demon rising to his feet. Xander twirled the light saber back and forth in front of him. "Toro, toro."

The demon growled. "Pitiful human, I will kill you for what you have done to my brother!"

"Come get some, Stinky," Xander quipped. The demon growled again and charged, the same as he had the first time. Xander again waited until the demon was close before diving out of the way. But the demon moved quicker this time, and managed to hit Xander with his shoulder, sending him to the ground. Xander tried to roll backward once he hit, to gain some distance on the demon, but the demon was too fast. When he looked up, the creature was hovering over him, it's foul-smelling breath tickling his nose. His light saber lay on the ground, just beyond his fingertips.

The demon laughed. "Did you really think I would be stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice?"

"Well, you know what they say," Xander panted, out of breath. "Stupid is as stupid does." And with that, he delivered an old-fashioned three stooges move. He poked it in both eyes as hard as he could. The demon cried out, bring it's hand over it's face. Which gave Xander just enough room to maneuver to grab his light saber. He activated it, and plunged it through the demon's neck. The creature let out one final scream before it fell over dead. Xander pushed the body off of himself and stood up, brushing himself off. "Damn, what is it with me and the lame movie quotes tonight."

"Okay, hold it right there," Warren said. Xander looked over and saw Warren pointing his weapon at him again, Andrew and Jonathan on either side of him. "Don't think that this hasn't been fun, 'cause it hasn't. But we've got places to go and people to kill, so I'm going to make this quick. Say goodbye to your two best friends, and I don't mean your pals in the Winnebago."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Is that the best you got?"

"No," Warren said, raising his arm. "This is." And with that, he fired. A red energy bolt shot out of the weapon, aimed straight at Xander. Xander reacted on pure instinct, raising his light saber in an attempt to block the beam. The surprise was clearly evident on his face when that is exactly what happened. The beam struck the light saber.

"Holy crap, that actually worked," Xander exclaimed.

Warren looked flustered for a second, but only a second. He readied the weapon and fired again. And again, the beam struck the light saber. He fired a third time, and a forth, and a fifth, but each time the shots were blocked. The Trio looked on, stunned. Until Andrew snapped his fingers.

"The phased energy beam's signature and that of the light saber must be polar opposites. He's not blocking the shots, the light saber is attracting them like a lightening rod."

"You built a phaser?" Xander asked incredulously. "God, you really need a girlfriend."

Warren ignored him. "Shit, it'll take me hours to recalibrate it."

"So, what do we do now?" Jonathan asked.

Warren looked over the situation. The three of them stood there, battered and beaten. Andrew had a broken nose, Jonathan probably had a few broken ribs, and he had a phaser that was utterly useless. Across from them stood a man with a light saber, who was clearly a better swordsman than any of them, and who had just killed two very large and very vicious demons.

Xander was smiling again, swinging his light saber back and forth, walking slowly toward the Trio.

"I'd say a tactical retreat is in order," Warren finished.

"Leaving so soon?" Xander asked. "I was just starting to have fun." And with that, the Trio turned on their heels and took of running into the trees. "May the force be with you!" Xander called out after them. He looked down at his new weapon, it's green energy blade humming in the cool night air. He took his thumb off the button and watched the blade retract. He smiled and shook his head. "What a world," he muttered to himself, clipping the light saber to his belt. He put his hands in his pockets and headed for the nearest cemetery exit, whistling a jaunty tune.

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Spike and Rak spotted each other from a good hundred yards away. Neither of them tried to run, or hide. They didn't shout at each other, or rush to attack. They just walked calmly towards each other, Spike causally finishing a cigarette. When they were within ten feet of each other, they stopped.

"Vampire," Rak said.

Spike took one last drag before throwing his cigarette away. "Warlock," he returned.

Rak tilted his head as he studies the vampire. "You seem very calm for someone who is about to die," he observed.

"Big talk from a small man," Spike countered.

"You have no power over me."

"Why don't we just see about that then."

The pair started to circle one another, each eying the other carefully. Rak flexed his fingers, bolts of red energy arcing between them. Then without warning, he thrust his arm out, a bolt of magic shooting out and striking Spike in the shoulder. Spike stood his ground, in fact he didn't react at all. He didn't fly backward from the blast, his arm wasn't singed off at the shoulder, he didn't react at all. He just stood there.

Rak's expression became more and more puzzled as he continued with the blast that appeared to be doing absolutely nothing. After nearly a minute, Spike just looked bored. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Pulling one from the pack, he held the tip against the beam, and pulled it back lit. He smiled, putting the cigarette between his lips and replacing the pack in the pocket of his duster. "Thanks, mate," he said around the cigarette.

Rak finally stopped. "I don't understand, that blast should have incinerated you."

Spike was examining the section of his coat over his shoulder, which was now putting off a small wisp of smoke. "Hey, you singed my coat! This is leather you know, cost me a bloody fortune!"

"I don't understand," Rak repeated, still in shock.

Spike closed the distance between him and the warlock. "Yeah, well, the rules have changed a bit," he said. And with that, he crossed his fingers, pulled back his fist, and punched Rak square in the nose. Rak staggered back a few steps, his hands coming up to his nose. Spike had his eyes clenched shut, waiting for that all to familiar sharp pain in his head that the chip produced. But it never came. He opened one eye first, then the other. A wicked smile crossed his face. "Droopy, I could kiss you," he said to the air. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it out between his thumb and forefinger. Blowing off the excess ash, he tucked it behind his ear and took off his duster, leaving him in just his black tee shirt and jeans. Bringing his fists up he turned to Rak again. "All right you wanker, let's see how you like it when the odds are a little more even. And by even of course, I mean in my favor."

Spike lashed out with a flurry of punches, which Rak futilely tried to block. A right cross, a couple of good shots to the ribs, and a fierce uppercut later, Rak was on the ground. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run away. Spike just grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him to the ground. "Not so fast, pantywaist," Spike said.

Rak was panting heavily, bleeding from his nose as well as a gash over his right eye. He raised his right hand and tried for another blast. The energy struck Spike dead in the chest, but again it had no affect. Spike just reached down and knocked his hand away. Grabbing him by the shoulders, he hauled him up off the ground and walked over to a nearby tree, pushing him up against it. Rak had his hands on Spike's chest, trying to push him away, but Spike was too strong.

"You…you can't hurt humans," Rak panted.

Spike reached up and slapped him. "You sure about that?" he said, still grinning wickedly. He kept his hands on Rak's shoulders and let his game face come on. "I've been waiting to do this for a long time. Try not to squirm around too much, it ruins the taste." Rak looked terrified as Spike brought his face closer and sunk his teeth into his neck.

Spike let the warm liquid fill his mouth. It had been so long since he had fed, really fed, from a human. He had missed it. But something wasn't right. "Uuuuuck!" Spike cried out. He pulled away from Rak and pushed him to the ground, spitting out the blood from his mouth. "Taste like paint thinner!" He exclaimed.

"A spell," Rak muttered, his hand covering the wound on his neck. "Makes it taste like turpentine."

Spike just shook his head in anger, still spitting. "Bloody magic blokes are all the same, you just had to spoil the first good meal I've had in ages. All right then, I guess I'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way and beat the bloody piss out of you."

Rak pushed himself backwards along the ground as Spike approached him, his game face still on. Rak looked panicked, but then his face changed. Like a thought had just struck him. He raised his one hand and waved it in front of him. "Amiculum," he recited. And with that word, a black mist appeared and surrounded his body. After a second or two, he had completely disappeared.

Spike rushed to the spot where the warlock once lay. He walked around it, swinging his arms and legs, assuming he was still there, just invisible. But he didn't make contact with anything. Spike growled and let out a roar. "Bloody poofter! Come back here and fight like a man!" he yelled. But there was no answer. He pitched another small fit, swinging his fist at the air, before sighing in frustration.

He walked back over to his duster and picked it up. Slipping it on, he took the cigarette from behind his ear and the lighter from his pocket and lit it. He took a long slow drag, and shrugged. "Oh well," he said to himself. "That was still fun." And with that, he headed off to find Buffy.

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Willow moved silently though the cemetery. She had performed a spell the week before that enhanced her senses, and she was currently using them all to hunt for her prey. She knew that once they regrouped, they would split up. Xander had been dipping into his solider boy memories more and more lately, and he had become quite the strategist. It was a necessity against a stronger opponent, and Willow knew that she was definitely stronger. She figured that Xander would take the Trio, seeing as how he had little trouble with them earlier. Of course, he didn't know about Warren's secret weapon. And since Buffy would no doubt want to take her on, that left Spike for Rak. She had no doubt that Rak made short work of the impotent vampire. Now it was just up to her to finish it. To kill the woman she had once called one of her best friends. She tried to put those thoughts out of her mind though, they would do her no good now. She was a huntress, and Buffy was her prey.

"Here slayer, slayer, slayer," She called out. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" But there was no response, only complete and utter silence. But she knew that her prey was nearby. She could smell it. "Don't be scared Buffy, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk," Willow lied.

"I'm not afraid of you."

Willow whirled around and saw Buffy walking out from behind a tree not twenty feet away from her. She was amazed that she hadn't detected her there earlier. Apparently she had underestimated her ability for stealth. "You sure about that?" Willow asked, grinning wickedly.

"I know enough about magic to know that a spell like the one you just performed takes a lot out of you. I have a feeling you're not going to be able to try anything like that again for a while."

"You'd be surprised," Willow answered simply. Buffy hid her emotions well behind a mask of professionalism, but Willow could tell that she was scared, and that she had been crying.

"What do you want to talk about?" Buffy asked, her voice almost sounding hopeful.

"I hope you understand why I have to do this Buffy. You of all people should understand, in this world it's kill or be killed."

"We never tried to kill you."

"No, you just tried to take my power away, to prevent me from bettering myself. You want to turn me back into your nice little pet doormat," Willow said, her voice betraying her anger. "Believe me, that's a fate worse than death."

"You got it all wrong Willow. We still love you, we just want to help you. If you would just listen to us, hear us out…"

Willow shook her head. "Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. Just how is it that you propose that *you* of all people could possibly help me? You can't even help yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"You've fallen apart, cracked under the pressure. Again I might add. You never were strong enough emotionally to deal with being the slayer. Time and time again you've let your emotions, your fear, cloud your judgment. The night that you killed the Master, your fear and anger over the prophecy of your death is what fulfilled it. If you hadn't rushed in headlong by yourself, if you had accepted our help from the beginning instead of pushing us away, that might never have happened. You see, it was your actions that caused the prophecy, not the other way around. If Xander hadn't been there to save you, you would have died. And how did you repay him? You spit in his face. You used him to make Angel jealous.

"Your love for Angel stopped you from killing Angelus, putting all of our lives in danger. All the murders he committed during that little rampage, you are responsible for those deaths, including Jenny's. You've never been willing to do what has to be done, no matter what was at stake.

"You were willing to let the entire world get sucked into hell, because you were unwilling to allow the sacrifice of a single girl. You had no way of knowing for sure whether or not you would close the portal if you jumped into it. But what did you care, you were going to die either way. But that's what you wanted, isn't it? You didn't sacrifice yourself to save Dawn, or the world. You did it because you were tired. You were scared, and you took the easy way out.

"And after all we did to bring you back, were you grateful? No. You resented us, I suspect you even hated us for what we did. We could have helped you, we were there for you, but you turned your back on us yet again."

Buffy's hands were clenched in fists. She was trembling. Somewhere halfway between enraged and emotionally obliterated, she didn't know whether she wanted to lash out with her fists, or curl up into a ball and cry her eyes out. It was like that night at the Magic Box all over again, the night their Willow left them and became something else, right before their very eyes.

"And who did you turn to, when you wanted to feel alive?" Willow continued. "For the second time in your life, you turned to the dead."

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Xander spotted Spike on his way out of the cemetery, but he noticed that the vampire wasn't headed for the exit. "Spike!" he called, running up to him. "Where are you going, we're supposed to meet back at Buffy's?"

"Figured I'd lend the slayer a little back up," Spike said. "She could probably use it."

Xander was about to chide Spike for not following the plan, but thought better of it. He himself had almost done the same thing. And considering the condition that he had left the Trio in, there was little chance of them regrouping tonight to launch another attack. So he walked along with Spike. "You find Rak?"

Spike smiled. "Damn straight, I took care of that wanker, no problem. Turns out you were right, the chip didn't give me any problems. And your amulet worked like a charm."

Xander stopped, putting a hand on Spike's arm. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"Course not," Spike insisted. "I know how the slayer feels about killing humans, even scum like Rak. I worked him over, broke his nose, a few ribs, but I didn't lay a fang on him." He raised his hand, holding up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

Xander just stared at Spike for a second. "Spike, you were never a Boy Scout, and you still have blood on your chin."

Spike's hand immediately went to his face, wiping it off. "Bloody hell," he muttered. After a minute of wiping he turned back to Xander. "Did I get it?" Xander just rolled his eyes. He licked his thumb and proceeded to wipe the spot of blood off of Spike's chin. "Don't look at me like that, the bloke's still alive."

"And why is that?" Xander asked.

Spike just mumbled something about a spell and turpentine. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

Xander shook his head. "No," he answered simply. Spike didn't have to ask him why, he knew that Xander blamed Rak in a large part for what happened to Willow. He certainly wouldn't shed any tears if the warlock died.

Spike nodded slightly, which is as close as he ever came to saying thank you. "So, how did you do? You smell like a Polgara demon bled on you."

Xander let out a sigh. "About seven feet tall, green skin and horns?" he asked. Spike nodded. "Then that's exactly what happened. Andrew and his damn demon whistles. I won though, and I have a shiny new toy to show for it," he said, holding up his new light saber.

Spike nodded. "Not bad. If Buffy did half as well as we did she might not need out help after all."

"Shh, I hear voices," Xander whispered.

Spike listened and picked up the same sound. "Sounds like Willow," he said. "This way." Spike headed off with Xander close behind. It wasn't long before Xander could make out what Willow was saying, and he spotted the two of them standing in a clearing.

"…when you wanted to feel alive? For the second time in your life, you turned to the dead."

Xander could see the look on Buffy's face, and it scared him. It was the same look she had that night at the Magic Box. And even though Xander hadn't heard the bulk of what Willow had just said, he was pretty sure he knew the gist of it.

"Don't look so shocked Buffy," Willow continued. "I know all your little secrets. You'd be amazed how much you can learn when you can astral-project yourself anywhere, invisible and insubstantial. You think that you're so much better than you were, than that girl in LA who would have given Cordelia a run for her money in the shallow airhead department. The truth is, you haven't changed that much. You're still just a spoiled child, attracted to all the bad boys. The only difference is that the boys have gotten a whole lot more bad."

Xander looked on with curiosity, wondering what Willow was talking about. What he didn't see was the horrified look on Spike's face. That's when Willow spotted them. She was surprised that they were alive, but she hid it well.

"Well now, look at what we have here," she said. Buffy followed Willow's gaze and spotted Xander and Spike. Xander did notice that she now looked terrified, like something horrible was about to happen. "The best of what's left, the last of the Scoobies," Willow continued. She walked closer to them as she spoke, turning back to Buffy. "I wonder if he'd still follow you if he knew. What do you think? Would he still defend you to the last breath? Would he still jump headlong into the fray to buy you that extra second, even if it could mean his death, if he knew just what it was he was fighting for? Would he still...love you, if he knew just what his 'hero' had become?" She paused, as though she were waiting for Buffy to answer. "Let's find out, shall we."

"No!" Buffy called out. Xander was surprised by the sound of her voice. She sounded like a frightened child.

Willow smiled wickedly. She was standing right in front of Buffy now. "Your betrayal of him is the sweetest thing of all, considering what you've put him through over the years. If he hadn't abandoned me as well, I might actually be upset on his behalf. But I suppose in being foolish enough to trust you, he got exactly what he deserved."

"Willow, please," Buffy pleaded, near tears.

But Willow ignored her, turning her attention to Xander. "You see Xander, Buffy and Spike here have a little secret." Xander turned to Spike, but the vampire wouldn't look at him. He turned back to Willow, who was still smiling like the cat that ate the canary. "They're fucking," she said simply. "Every night practically, they slip away and screw each other's brains out. In Buffy's bed, in Spike's crypt, abandoned buildings, the back room of the Magic Box. Hell, if the irony had occurred to her, they probably would have done it in your bed." Willow turned back to Buffy, but she was still talking to Xander. "Don't worry, she doesn't love him. In fact, she hates him even more now, herself too. You should see it, the two of them going at it. It's all carnal animal lust and bottled up rage." Willow turned back to Xander. "How does that make you feel? As loving, and as tender, and as patient as you've been with her, she'd still rather get pelvic with a dead man than let you into her heart even a little bit. She still pushes you away, doesn't she, when you try to be there for her, to help her?" She turned back to Buffy. "How does that make you feel, Xander?"

Buffy was trembling again, but this time it was all rage. Her fists were clenched, her jaw was clenched, beads of sweat were running down her face. Xander was looking at the ground. He just couldn't bring himself to raise his eyes to hers, he was too afraid of what he'd see there. There was a tightness in his chest, and he found it difficult to breath. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to run, as far and as fast as he could. He mind was racing, trying to process the information it had just been given. He wanted to do anything but look up. That's when he heard it, the crack of a bone breaking, and a thud as a body hit the ground. Instinctively, he looked up. He saw Willow, lying on the ground, a trickle of blood coming out of her mouth. She was unconscious. Buffy was standing above her, looking at her own fist, like she couldn't believe what she had just done. Xander felt Spike brush past him and run to Buffy's side.

"Good thinking, Luv," he said, like he was trying to pretend everything was the same. "Can't put the mojo on us when she's out cold. We should make tracks before her lackeys get here." Spike knew full well that neither Rak nor the Trio would be a threat to them tonight. He just wanted to get out of there before Xander decided to stake him. Xander for his part was just standing there though, fighting the urge to fall to the ground, curl up in the fetal position and just die.

Buffy just nodded. "Okay, let's go," she said softly, starting to head off.

"We should take her with us," Xander said, looking down at the unconscious body of his once best friend.

Buffy and Spike both turned back around. Buffy seemed to be considering it when they heard the trees rustling in the distance, and the sound of voices. "There's no time," she concluded.

Xander looked up and they locked eyes. He saw so much in those hazel orbs, but on the surface there was something simple. Something he had said to her earlier that night. 'Not right now, not tonight.' Xander didn't say anything, he just stepped over Willow's body and started for the exit at a jog. Buffy and Spike followed suit.

When they made it to the street, Xander headed one way, towards his house, and Buffy and Spike started the other way, towards the Summers' residence. He didn't run, he didn't cry, he didn't scream. He just walked, with his head held high. Buffy called after him, to remind him that Anya was at her house, watching Dawn. But Xander just kept walking.

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Rak and the Trio limped out of the trees and spotted the form of their fallen leader. Immediately they rushed to her side. "Strawberry," Rak said, touching her face. "Wake up." When she didn't come to immediately, he passed his hand over her face again and spoke a few words in Latin. Her eyes fluttered and he helped her sit up. He chanted a few more words, and a wisp of green magic wrapped around her face and mended her jaw. She stretched her mouth a few times before she spoke.

"She actually hit me," she said. "I didn't think she had it in her." She looked up at her assembled minions, ready to ask them how they had each done with their assigned tasks that night. When she saw the shape they were in, she didn't bother. Andrew was bleeding from the nose, Jonathan was clutching his midsection, Rak was bleeding from the nose and the neck and looked to be in pain. The phaser Warren carried looked like it had taken a sword blow, and Andrew's light saber was missing. She let Rak help her to her feet. She didn't yell at them, and she resisted the urge to smack them all in the head. Instead she spoke calmly. "It seems that I've once again made the mistake of under estimating my former friends. But that won't happen again. Warren, do you still have the robot's remote unit?"

Warren pulled the unit off his belt. "Yes," he answered. "She's still in position," he said, checking the unit's display.

"Good, signal her to go ahead with the plan," Willow said. She allowed herself a small smile. "This is far from over."

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The doorbell rang in the Summers' home. Dawn stood from the couch where she was watching TV. "I'll get it, Anya," she called to the kitchen where Anya was doing the dinner dishes.

"Be careful Dawn," Anya called back over the sound of running water.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Jeez, you accidentally invite one vampire in and they never let you forget it," she mumbled to herself. Dawn looked through the peephole in the door, and a huge smile came over her face at who she saw. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. She flung the door open and ran right into the person, wrapping her arms around her and burying her head in her chest in a hug. "Tara! You're back!"

Tara's expression remained blank for a moment, then she blinked and smiled, wrapping her arms around Dawn. "Yes, I am," she said.

"I knew you'd come back Tara, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Dawnie," Tara said. "I couldn't leave you. Not when I still have work left to do."

(5/12)

It was the next day and Spike was sitting in his crypt, flipping channels on the TV. He wasn't really paying attention to anything on the screen though, the events from the night before kept playing over and over again in his head. Part of him kept reminding himself that he shouldn't care, about any of it. So what if the witch wanted to kill them all, what business was it of his? He was the Big Bad after all. He should be helping to destroy them, not defending them. At the very least he should be hauling ass out of town. Powerful witch, wants him dead. The old Spike would have been halfway to Zimbabwe by now. Instead of just sitting in his crypt, watching reruns of M*A*S*H and waiting for the shit to hit the fan. But he wasn't the old Spike, he was different now, and the chip wasn't solely to blame. There was also the small matter of him being in love with the slayer. Not to mention the Little Bit. He could always fool himself when it came to Buffy, for a little while anyway, tell himself that it was just lust. But with Dawn things were more complicated than that. He'd do anything to protect her, anything. And somewhere deep inside of him, the demon was disgusted by that. He could hear it chiding him. He could feel it's disdain, like bile rising in his throat.

 _You've gone soft, Spike! That's all! You used to rip the throats out of little girls, and leave their broken bodies on their parents' doorstep. Now you look after one, trying to score points with the slayer. You're a mongrel dog, begging for scraps of affection from a woman who despises you. Whose very existence is dedicated to destroying your kind. You are truly pathetic!_

Spike tried to shake those thoughts away. He stood and headed for his liquor cabinet. Pulling out a bottle of whiskey, he unscrewed the cap and took a long swig. The liquid burned down his throat, and Spike welcomed the sensation. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but he was afraid. Not of Willow, or of his probable impending death. No, what he feared was much more heinous, in his mind at least. He knew it would happen, that Buffy and he would be discovered eventually. And he knew what it meant. Once she was confronted with it by her friends, everything would come out. Her anger, her fear, her resentment of them for pulling her from Heaven. They'd yell and scream and fight. Then they'd all hug and cry and apologize, and generally carry on in ways that would make any self-respecting vampire retch. And then all those empty promises Buffy had been making to end their little tryst wouldn't be quite so empty anymore. He'd be on the outs, for good this time. And if he were lucky enough to escape staking, he'd at least receive a vicious ass kicking and a one-way bus ticket to anywhere-but-here, USA. He knew that he never had a chance with her. A real chance, at her heart. But he had her body, and for a while that was enough. He could always dream. He could always pretend that maybe she really did feel something for him, and that she was just in denial. That she kept coming back to him because somewhere deep down inside, she wanted him. And maybe if he kept telling her that, he'd convince her. Or himself, either one. But he knew the real reason. That she was just using him to hurt herself. Because if she felt pain, or disgust, or anger, than at least she felt something. And she wouldn't be quite so dead inside anymore.

It was the first time Spike had allowed himself to think about it quite so much, for fear of what he would realize, and the thoughts struck him like a ton of bricks. Spike suddenly found himself very angry. He took another long pull from his bottle of whiskey before throwing it against the wall of his crypt, watching as it shattered into a million pieces.

"That bitch! Who the hell does she think she is, using me like that! ME! Spike! The Big Bad! William the frickin' Bloody! If she thinks this is over, she's got another thing coming! She doesn't decide what happens to me! I'm not afraid of her! I'm not afraid of anyone!"

Just then, the door to Spike's crypt flew open and there stood Xander. "Spike!" he shouted.

"Oh, shit!" Spike cried out, diving out of the sunlight that spilled into the room and down the ladder that led to the lower level of his crypt.

Xander just rolled his eyes and walked over to the edge of the whole in the cement floor of the crypt. "Relax Spike, I'm not here to kill you. I'm not even here to beat you up."

Spike poked his head into view, his face looking puzzled for a second. "You're not?" Spike shook his head. "I mean, of course you're not. That would be ridiculous, you killing me. Ha!" Spike said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than Xander.

"Then come up here so we can have a little chat," Xander said, keeping his voice level. He turned and headed for the door, closing it. Spike ascended the ladder slowly.

"So, you're not mad?" he asked, disgusted by how whiney his own voice sounded. As he came over the top of the ladder he saw Xander standing by the door. He turned around with a stake in his left hand, spinning it between his fingers like a drumstick.

"Oh, I'm mad," he corrected. "As Anya and the many fist-shaped holes in my drywall will attest. I just know that apart from drastically improving my mood, killing you wouldn't accomplish anything. Besides…" Xander paused, seeming reluctant to say what he had to say next. "We need you."

Spike's eyes grew wide with that statement. "Well then, what's with the stake, mate?"

Xander looked down at the stake as though he just noticed it. "Oh, that's just a nervous habit," he said, putting it back in his pocket. He let out a long sigh. "The truth is, as hard as I might try, I don't even blame you."

Again, Spike's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"No, believe me I wish I were. It would be so easy if you were the bad guy here, if you had forced Buffy into…whatever this is. But you and I both know that you couldn't force Buffy to do anything she didn't already want to do." Spike looked nervous again for a second. "And before you say anything, I already know that your chip doesn't work on her."

At this point Spike's face was in jeopardy of becoming frozen in a shocked expression. "How?"

"I've seen you two spar, I could tell that you weren't holding back. I could see it in your eyes, you wanted to hurt her. And the chip didn't even flinch. I figured it had something to do with Buffy's attitude since she's been back, the time that she had been spending with you. You saw the path she was on, where she was headed, and you knew it wasn't good.

"But my point is that Buffy is a big girl, she can make her own decisions. If a person walks into a lion's cage, you don't blame the lion for eating them. She knew what you were, what you felt for her. You were straight with her." Xander looked up at Spike and pointed his finger at him. "But that doesn't mean that I'm happy about what you did," he insisted in a harsh voice. "You knew what she was going through, what she was feeling. You knew that she didn't love you, that she was just using you to hurt herself, but you kept it up anyway. You took advantage of her. You could have stopped it, you could have told someone. If you really love her, you should have done what was best for her, not you." Xander paused again, his voice becoming calm again. "But like I said, I can't blame you for what you are. And had our positions been reversed, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't know that I would have acted any differently. I like to think I would, but I honestly don't know."

"I knew you still had a thing for her."

"I didn't come here to talk about that," Xander said, neither confirming nor denying. "I came here to make sure you didn't skip town over this. This isn't over yet, and we need all the help we can get."

"Where am I going to go?"

Xander nodded. "And I came here to ask you for a favor," he said reluctantly. "You and I both know that what's coming, this battle…" he paused. "It may very well be the end. Willow has gone past the point of no return." Xander's voice nearly cracked when he said what he said next, but he kept it steady. "It's either her or us. And I don't think that Buffy will be able to…what I mean is, if it should come down to it, I don't think she could…"

Spike could tell that he was fighting tears as he trailed off. "Kill her," he finished for him.

Xander just nodded, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Buffy has a way of denying the reality of a situation when it comes to death and the people she loves. Truth be told, I don't think I could do it either." He paused. "If there should come a moment, and neither Buffy or I can…" he trailed off. "I need you to do what needs to be done."

Just when Spike thought that this boy couldn't surprise him anymore, he went and proved how much of a man he really was. "I understand," Spike said simply.

Xander nodded. "Thank you," he said. Turning, he headed for the door. But Spike's voice stopped him.

"Have you talked to her yet?"

Xander turned back around. "That's where I'm headed now."

Spike nodded, reaching into his pocket he pulled something out and tossed it to Xander. "Here, I think you'll need this."

Xander looked down into his hands and saw Anya's protection amulet, the one he had leant Spike the night before. He smiled slightly as he put it around his neck, giving Spike a nod of thanks before heading for the door again.

"Oh, and Xander," Spike called out again. Xander just turned his head this time. "Thanks." He meant it, he really did. And Xander could tell. It could have been for not killing him, and if asked that's probably what Spike would have said. But Xander knew what it was really for. It was for understanding. He just nodded, and left, closing the door behind him.

Spike just looked at the door for a moment. "Good luck, kid. You're going to need it." He was almost surprised to realize that he meant that too. He could practically hear his demon gagging.

 _Give me a break!_

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Xander knocked on the door of the Summers' residence, and Tara answered. "Hello Xander."

"Hey Tara," Xander said, giving her a smile. "Anya told me you were back. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Tara said, smiling back. She stood there for a moment, smile still on her face, not moving.

"Can I come in?" Xander asked finally.

"Of course," she answered, stepping aside.

Xander thought it was a little odd, but he just chalked it up to stress. They were all feeling it. He stepped inside, spotting Dawn on the couch. She looked like she had been crying. "How's Dawn doing?"

"She's upset," Tara said.

"Did she and Buffy fight?"

Tara shook her head. "Buffy went into her room as soon as she came home last night, she hasn't been out since. That's part of the reason Dawn is so upset, the fact that she won't even talk to her about it."

Xander nodded. "It's a good thing you came back when you did then, isn't it. Dawn is lucky to have you."

Tara nodded. "I am lucky too," she said. And with that, she walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Dawn. Xander followed.

"Hey Dawn, how are you holding up?" Xander asked. Dawn looked up at him, silently answering him with her eyes. "Yeah, me too."

"I just don't understand, Xander. Why would she do it?" She paused. "I'm worried about her, she won't even talk to me. I knocked on her door but she told me to go away. I'm getting scared."

Xander kneeled down in front of where Dawn was sitting until they were at eye level with each other. "I know," he said, putting his hand on her leg. "It's okay to be scared. But Buffy is going to be okay, I promise. We all are."

"What about Willow? Spike said last night that she tried to kill you."

Xander knew that this would come. How was he supposed to explain to Dawn how it was too late for Willow, that she was too far gone for them to help her anymore. She wouldn't understand. Xander wasn't even sure that he understood. It was all just too much to heap onto a fifteen-year-old. "Willow is very confused right now. She doesn't understand that we're trying to help her. But we're not going to let her hurt us, or anyone else."

"It's too late for her, isn't it?" Dawn asked, on the verge of tears.

Xander didn't answer, he just pulled her into a hug. The tears came, and Dawn buried her face in Xander's chest as she sobbed. Xander just wrapped his arms around her and patted her chest, telling her that it was going to be okay. They both knew that it wouldn't of course. But for the time being, in the safety of Xander's arms, Dawn let herself believe it. Even if it was just for a little while.

The hug broke and Xander wiped a few tears off of Dawn's cheek. "I should go talk to your sister."

Dawn nodded. "I'll be okay."

Xander gave her a smile as he stood up. Tara put her arms around her to comfort her. Dawn closed her eyes and laid her head on Tara's shoulder. Xander touched Tara on the shoulder and gave her a smile too before heading to the stairs.

Xander ascended the steps with trepidation, unsure of what waited for him at the top. After spending half the night before trying to sort through his own thoughts and feelings, he spent the other half speculating as to what Buffy's were. He tried putting himself in her shoes, but he found it a hard task. To try and pretend that he knew what was going through her head after all she had been through in the past year would be futile, not to mention insulting. Buffy had been on a downward spiral ever since her return from the dead, and he was sure that she had finally struck rock bottom. She was circling the drain, and whether or not Xander could pull her out in time was anyone's guess. But he was sure as hell going to try. He owed her at least that, after the part he had played in her resurrection. The guilt would be with him forever, and even though he knew that he would never be able to atone for what he had done to her, intentionally or not, he would never stop trying. All he could do, was try to put the past behind him, deal with the present, and prepare for the future. A difficult chore considering the amount of emotional baggage that lay in each of the three places. But the fate of the very world was at stake.

Xander got to the top of the steps and stopped in front of Buffy's bedroom door. He stared at it for a few moments, like the Amazing Carnac staring at a white envelope, trying to guess what lay within. When he finally got up the courage, he raised his hand to knock. But he stopped when he heard the click of the lock turning, and Buffy's voice from inside.

"Come in Xander," she said flatly.

Xander flexed his fingers and lowered his hand to the knob, turning it and opening the door, he stepped inside. He had been in Buffy's room before, countless times, but somehow this time it felt different. Like a lion's den. It certainly didn't look like one though. Xander spotted at least three all too familiar fist shaped wholes in the drywall. There was broken glass shards on the carpet next to her nightstand, and an overturned picture frame nearby. The wastebasket next to her bed was filled with balled up tissues. And finally, Buffy herself, sitting on her bed looking up at Xander expectantly. She was wearing the same clothes from the night before. She had bags under her eyes and tear tracks on her face.

"How did you know it was me?" Xander asked.

"I saw you pull up," she said, motioning toward the window. Her voice sounded hoarse, like she had been crying all night. Or screaming, there was no way to tell. "So can we get this over with?" she asked, emotion showing in her voice for the first time. Agitation.

"Get what over with?"

"Whatever it is you came here for. To yell at me and tell me what a horrible person I am."

"I just came here to see how you were doing."

Buffy looked genuinely surprised at that. "Just peachy, how about you?" She asked sarcastically.

"I've been better," Xander said seriously, keeping his voice level. There was a long pause while they both just looked at each other. Finally Xander spoke again. "I'm sorry for taking off last night like that. I just…" he drifted off. "I was upset, and I didn't trust myself not to say something that I would later regret."

"What were you upset about?" she asked. Xander didn't answer, he just looked confused for a second. "I mean, what right do you have to be upset with me. I'm a grown woman, I can be with whoever I want to be with," she said, her agitation growing. "And you have no right to tell me otherwise just because you're jealous!"

Xander could feel his own anger rising but he pushed it down. "You got it all wrong, Buff," he said, his voice calm. "I'm not jealous, I'm just worried about you."

"Your concern is touching, but I'm fine."

"You're fine? You're bumping uglies with Spike and you're fine?" Xander asked, letting his anger show for a moment.

"It's none of your business!" Buffy yelled.

"You're my friend, and you're hurting yourself. That makes it my business."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't think I know what you're doing? Spike isn't the problem, he never was, he's just a symptom." Xander paused. "You've been emotionally distant ever since you came back. Having everything heaped onto you again after where you've been, it must feel like Hell on Earth. It's understandable that your emotions would be overloaded and shut down. It's even understandable that you would turn to Spike. He's an outsider, someone you don't really care about. You can talk to him without having to worry about how he's going to feel about what you say, because you don't care how he feels. But what you're doing with him is just hurting yourself. Because if you feel anger, or pain, or hatred, than at least that's something. It's better than being empty inside."

"How do you expect me to feel! I did what was asked of me, I fought for five years while one by one the people I loved left me. I was finally finished. I was finally happy. To have it all ripped from me, to be thrown back into it all. To be told that no, there was a mistake. I didn't deserve the happiness I had been given, that the only thing I deserved in life was heartache and misery. How do you expect me to feel, Xander!"

"I know that I'll never be able to fully understand what you're going through, and I know that I'll never be able to make up for the part I played in your resurrection. But I am sorry, and I will carry that guilt for the rest of my life. We didn't know, we thought we were helping you. I know that that's little comfort, and I know that what we did is still wrong regardless of our intentions. But Buffy, we're your friends. We're not perfect, but we love you. You could have come to us."

Buffy turned away. "You can't understand, what it's like. You can't help me."

"And Spike can, is that it?"

Buffy shook her head. "You're wrong. I'm not trying to hurt myself with Spike."

"Do you love him?"

"Of course not! What, you're the only one allowed to have sex with someone without being in love!"

Xander felt a twinge of anger at that but he pushed it aside. "You don't know anything about Anya and me."

"Thanks to Anya broadcasting every detail about your sex lives, I know far more than I want to."

"If you're mad at me Buffy, then you take it up with *me*. Leave Anya out of this."

"You don't love her Xander, you never did. You're just using her for sex. So you've got a lot of gall coming in her and lecturing me about my sex life. It's none of your god damn business!"

Xander's fists were clenched with rage, but he kept his voice steady. "I love her more than anything, and you don't know anything about it. I'm not that walking bag of hormones that you knew in high school, Buffy. I've grown up."

Buffy looked him up and down. "Some things never change."

Xander knew what she was doing. She felt like she was being attacked, so she was attacking him back. She probably didn't believe half the things she was saying, she just wanted to hurt him. As always, she was doing a spectacular job. "Things change all the time. A lot of things changed while you were gone. It was hard, but we kept going. We took care of Dawn, we took care of Sunnydale…and we took care of each other. We did the best we could."

"But it wasn't good enough, was it? It was too hard. So you decided to go against nature and destiny and bring me back into this…living hell. Selfish bastards," she muttered. She turned her back to Xander, looking out the window.

That was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Xander snapped. He crossed the room and grabbed Buffy by the arm, spinning her around.

"Stop it! Stop lashing out and listen for a change! This isn't an easy world to live in, but you've got it better than you realize. You've got a home, you've got your family, your friends. People who love you. Yes, there's fear, and doubt, and pain. It isn't heaven, not even close. It's life, and whatever the reason, you have to live it again. But you've got it better than most people, you want to know why? Because you know what's waiting for you when it's all over. You know where you're going to go when you die and you know exactly how wonderful it will be. You made it into heaven once, and you'll make it there again. That's a certainty that none of us have. You want to punish us for what we did to you, fine. But don't punish yourself, don't punish Dawn. She's innocent, and she needs her sister in her life!"

"Don't you see! She doesn't need me anymore! She has all of you! You've all become more important to her than I ever was! She can't even stand to be in the same room with me anymore, she hates me!"

"She doesn't hate you, she could never hate you. She's just worried about you, we all are. Yes, we all became more important to her when you were gone, but that doesn't make you any less important. She's trying to understand, she's trying to be there for you, but you just keep pushing her away. Pushing us all away, just like you've always done when things got tough. You have to stop Buffy, you have to let us in. You can't do this alone."

Buffy shook her head. "No, you don't understand. You can't understand what it's like for me."

Xander was still holding Buffy by the arms, he shook her a little. "Damn it, Buffy! We've been here with you, practically since day one. We've fought everything that you've fought, we've been through everything that you've been through, without the benefit of any special powers. And we've done it all because we wanted to. Because you are our friend and we want to help you, and because it was a good fight. Because we can't stand by and do nothing in the face of evil anymore than you can. When you ran away, we kept fighting. When you died, we kept fighting. And even now, as you push us away, we keep fighting. With no promise of heaven, or of anything for that matter, we keep fighting. So tell me, what is it exactly that I don't understand?"

Buffy didn't answer. She pushed Xander's hands away violently and turned her back on him again. "I'm the slayer. At the end of the day, it's my responsibility and mine alone," she said, her thoughts turning to her encounter with the First Slayer. "I have to face this alone, it's part of what I am."

Xander shook his head. "Bullshit! This isn't about you being the slayer, it's about the same thing it's always been about. You're just too stubborn and pig-headed to admit that you need help, that you're not perfect. You're acting like a child!"

Xander saw it coming. He saw her body tense. He heard her cry out in anger. He saw her arm coming up as she spun around, and he saw her fist heading straight for him. But he didn't move. He took the punch square in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. When he looked up at her, he could see the surprised look on her face as she looked down at her own fist, like she couldn't believe what she had done. His expression held no surprise at all. He knew about Buffy's tendency to lash out, and he knew that the more the argument escalated, it was only a matter of time before she did so physically. His own anger was gone, it had burned out. He just looked…defeated. Yet another attempt to get through to her had failed. He moved his jaw back and forth, testing it to make sure it wasn't broken. It wasn't. Touching his fingers to his mouth, he pulled them back and saw blood on them. He had a split lip, and his head was throbbing a little, but thankfully he still had all of his teeth, and he was pretty sure that he didn't have a concussion. He picked himself up off the floor and brushed himself off.

"Tonight, an hour before sunset, at the Magic Box," he said. "We still have to figure out what we're going to do. You should probably be there."

Buffy could hear the defeat in his voice, but even more disturbing to her than that, was the acceptance of that defeat that he seemed to express. Like he was used to it. He waited a few more seconds for Buffy to respond. When she didn't, he turned around and walked out, closing the door quietly behind him. Buffy stared at the door for a few seconds before she felt the tears. She sank to the bed and let them come.

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Xander came down the stairs slowly, his hand tentatively touching his lip. Dawn came around the corner from the living room when she heard his footsteps.

"How did it…" she paused when she saw Xander's bleeding lip. "Go?"

"About as well as I expected," Xander answered. He noticed Dawn's dejected expression. "Hey, Dawnie, it'll be okay," he said, holding his arms out. Dawn stepped into the hug and laid her head on his chest. "It's just going to take some time. Your sister's been through a lot."

"That doesn't give her the right to hit you," Dawn said. "That doesn't give her the right to…" she trailed off, a tear in her voice.

"To ignore you," Xander finished. Dawn just nodded against his chest. "I know Dawnie, I know. It'll be okay, I promise."

"I wish I was as confident as you were."

'I wish I was as confident as I'm pretending to be too,' Xander thought idly to himself. He looked up and saw Tara come in from the kitchen. He broke the hug and looked down at Dawn, pushing a lock of hair away from her face. He gave her a smile and she smiled back. He looked back up. "There's a Scooby meeting at the Magic Box tonight, an hour before sunset. You both should be there." He paused. "We have a lot to talk about." They both nodded. "I have to go, I'll see you tonight," he said, heading for the door.

Dawn watched him go, wondering how confident he really was. She wrapped her arms around herself. She was scared.

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Buffy watched as Xander pulled away from her bedroom window, tears sliding down her cheeks. She reached out and touched the glass as she watched the car disappear down the street. "Dear god," she sobbed. "What have I done?"

(6/12)

Dawn was walking back into the living room when she heard what sounded like a door opening upstairs. She stopped and looked up the stairwell. Sure enough, Buffy's bedroom door was open. She could see the light from her bedroom window, and an elongated Buffy-shaped shadow being cast on the hallway floor. Taking a chance, Dawn climbed the stairs slowly. Reaching Buffy's door she peered inside. Buffy was standing at the window, her back to Dawn. She had her arms wrapped around herself and she was just staring out at the street. Dawn knocked lightly on the door jam to announce her presence. Buffy jumped a little bit. Dawn could tell by the way she wouldn't turn around right away that she had been crying. The pile of used tissues in and around the waste basket were a dead giveaway as well.

"You didn't have to hit him?" she said gently, surprised herself by how little anger there was in her voice. Something about seeing Buffy crying unnerved her, it was like seeing Clint Eastwood burst into tears.

Buffy half turned around, letting her hair hide her face and nodded slightly. "I know," she said softly. "I was just…so angry." Her voice sounded so weak.

"At him?"

"No. Yes. Maybe, I don't know. It's just all so confusing."

Dawn slowly walked into the room a little further. "Xander told me something once. He said that you made the world a better place. Not just by killing all the evil things, though that's definitely a big part of it. He said that you also make the world better for the people around you, for your friends. For him. He said that before we came to Sunnydale…before you came, his life was miserable. His parents, school. He said that if it hadn't been for Willow he probably would have killed himself, that's how unbearable it was. But you were like this ray of sunshine on his life, that just made everything brighter." Buffy turned around fully this time, the confusion evident on her face. "His exact words, ray of sunshine."

"How could he say that? Before I showed up, he and Willow didn't know anything about vampires. They were blissfully ignorant, and their lives were simple. Well, as simple as life in high school can be."

"I asked him that too. He said that when he learned about 'the fight' as he called it, that it made all of his problems seem so much less important. Seeing your strength while you fought gave him strength. The very idea of you, a person his age who had been given such a tremendously difficult duty, and who accepted it and fought so tirelessly against evil. It reaffirmed his confidence in humanity. It made him believe that it was possible for him to become something great as well, instead of just thinking of himself as a waste, which is what his parents had told him. But more than that, more than just what you were, it was who you were. It was your friendship that made his world a better place. And it was your heart that made him fall in love with you. He fought by your side because he wanted to be like you, he wanted his life to have meant something. That's why he fought so fearlessly, because he wasn't afraid to die. He knew that if he died fighting the good fight, then it wouldn't be a senseless death. Then his life would mean something." Dawn could feel her own tears threatening to come at this point. "He wasn't eager for death though, he had too much to live for. He didn't fight recklessly the way it sometimes appeared. I think that maybe, he felt like he was also fighting to get your respect. He had your friendship, and he knew that he would never have your love, not the way he loved you at least. But he thought that if he fought hard enough, he could at least gain your respect."

"And every time I pushed him away, told him that I didn't need his help, it must have been like a slap in the face. But he never let it stop him. He never loved me any less." Buffy felt so stupid, so angry with herself for the way she had treated Xander in the past. She was finally beginning to realize why he did what he did, why he fought. Largely it had always been and always would be for her, out of his love and respect for her.

"The reason I'm telling you this Buffy, is because I want you to understand Xander the way I do. Understand why he did what he did. Maybe it was a mistake to bring you back, but he didn't do it out of selfishness. He did it to make the world a better place, the only way that he knew how. By keeping you in it."

Buffy started crying again, this time not even bothering to try and hide it. Dawn closed the distance between them in a second, wrapping her arms around her big sister and pulling her into a hug. Buffy held onto her sister for dear life. "It's just so hard," she sobbed. "After everything that I did, no matter how hard I fought, evil just kept coming. Then with Mom…there wasn't anything I could do. All my strength was worthless, I was powerless. What good is it to be the slayer if you can't even save your own mother!" Dawn just held her while she cried all of her frustrations out. After a few moments of crying, she spoke again. "She said that death was my gift. I thought she meant that it was my gift to give, to save the world. But then I thought that maybe it was a gift for me. That I was finally done, and that I was being given a reward for everything I had done, everything I had gone through. But then it was taken from me, and I was sent back here to face it all again. And it was all that much harder for having known what heaven was like. It feels like I'm trying to run underwater. Everything, even the little things, is just so much harder now. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to deal with this."

"I don't know Buffy. I don't know that there is a way to deal with something like this. You just have to take things as they come and do the best you can, that's all anyone can do. But you don't have to do it alone, you have me, you have Xander and Anya and Tara. I know that it isn't easy, but our lives never have been. But we can get through it, we're strong. You're strong."

Buffy broke the hug, looking down at her little sister as she spoke. "I have been pushing everyone away lately, you included. Sometimes I just don't know how to deal with people. Sometimes I just feel so alone. I'm sorry Dawn, I'm sorry that I haven't been the parent that you deserve. It's just…you've gotten along without me, and sometimes I wonder if you even need me anymore."

"Buffy!" Dawn said with surprise. "That's ridiculous, of course I need you. Now more than ever." She paused. "I feel alone sometimes too, even in a room full of people. Like no one really sees me, like no one is looking. But then I remember that I do have people in my life, like Xander and Tara. People who go out of their way to make sure that I know that they're there for me. And they remind me that everyone feels like that sometimes, especially when you're a teenager. But no matter how many other people I have like that, you'll always be the most important Buffy. You're my sister, you're blood."

Buffy pulled Dawn into a hug again. "I love you Dawn," she said.

"I love you too, Buffy," Dawn said, her tears starting to come again.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Buffy, it's okay." They held each other and cried for a few more minutes. "Buffy, I have to ask you," Dawn said, finally breaking the hug. "After Xander left, before I came up here. You opened your door. How come?"

Buffy seemed to think about the answer for a moment, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "I guess…I guess I was just tired of being alone. What I didn't realize was that I never really was."

Dawn shook her head and hugged her sister again. "And you never will be Buffy," she said. "No matter what happens, we'll always have each other."

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Xander looked around at the group of people assembled around him in the Magic Box. Buffy and Dawn were sitting at the table next to each other. By the looks on their faces it was clear to Xander that they had resolved something between them. Dawn didn't look quite has hopeless as she had earlier when Xander had seen her. They must have talked. Obviously whatever Dawn had said worked better than what he had. Buffy still wouldn't look at him. Maybe he had said too much, maybe not enough. Maybe it was too soon, or too late. Or maybe whenever Buffy looked at him, all she could see was what he had done to her. Something she could never forgive him for.

But Xander wasn't the only one Buffy was avoiding eye contact with. Spike stood off to the side next to a bookcase, pretending to be reading the spines of the books and finding them endlessly fascinating. His whole demeanor reminded Xander of a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Anya was standing behind the cash register, counting money. She had already counted the day's till, at least twice by Xander's count. But counting money was something that soothed her, and even though she hid it rather well, Xander could tell that she was nervous. Having only been mortal for a few years now, and possible impending death situation was just not something she was used to, unlike the rest of the people assembled in the room. Xander reminded himself to make sure she was okay once they got a private moment. He had been so preoccupied with everything that had been happening lately, that he had been neglecting his fiancé.

Tara was sitting on the other side of Dawn with a very blank look on her face. Xander couldn't read her at all. He was leaning against the counter across from Anya. Her reached over and squeezed her hand. Anya looked up at him and he gave her a smile. Kind of an 'I love you, I'm sorry, we'll get through this' smile. She smiled back and nodded. Xander turned and walked over to the table.

"The reason I asked you all to come is that things have changed with our current situation," Xander started. "With Willow. The time for half-measures is gone." He paused. "She tried to kill us last night, something that our Willow would never do." He paused again. "I think that clinches it. Our Willow is gone." The whole room was dead quiet. Dawn was looking down at the table, a look on her face like she wanted to cry but she was fighting it. She had matured so much since last year, Xander thought. Buffy kept her arm around Dawn, her expression much the same. Tara was looking at Dawn too, but her expression hadn't changed much.

"What do you suggest we do, mate?" Spike asked.

Xander looked at Dawn for a long time before he answered. "I'm not going to sugarcoat things, the odds are not in our favor here. We're talking about three very powerful magic users, four if you include Jonathan. Three very brilliant minds, with the ability to control demons of various sorts thanks to Andrew, and technology that I've only ever seen in science fiction movies thanks to Warren. We're outgunned and outnumbered."

"I don't understand," Dawn piped in. "I thought you guys kicked their asses last night."

"Yes, but we had three advantages last night. The element of surprise, the fact that they underestimated us, and luck. The fact is, they're not going to make the mistake of underestimating us again, and we can't count on luck. But surprise is something we can use."

"What are you thinking?" Buffy asked, speaking to Xander for the first time since she struck him, earlier that day.

Xander made eye contact with her for a moment before continuing. "What's the last thing that they would expect from us? They've got us outclassed, they're going to expect us to be on the run, on the defensive. Well, the best defense is a good offense. So I say we attack the mansion."

"When?" Buffy asked.

"Tomorrow night."

"Are you daft?" Spike chimed in.

"It has to be as soon as possible if we hope to catch them off guard," Xander insisted.

"It doesn't matter how off guard we catch them, that mansion is like a stronghold. That isn't a plan, it's suicide!" Spike said.

Dawn looked scared, so did Anya. Xander locked eyes with Anya, trying to convey without words that she should trust him. He sat down at the table, across from Buffy and Dawn. He had expected Buffy to react the same way Spike had, but so far she hadn't said anything.

"Dawn, look at me," Xander started. She reluctantly looked up, still fighting tears. "It's not suicide. That was Angel's mansion, Buffy knows it better than any of us, including Willow. We can get the drop on them." He looked at Buffy and then Spike. "We have to, it's our only chance."

Spike looked at Buffy, seeing that she actually seemed to be considering it. "No," he said, walking over to the table. "Buffy, listen to me. The only thing that this will do is get us killed, and then there won't be anyone left to stop Willow. Things aren't as hopeless as he makes them sound. We're stronger than they are, you and me. We still have that light saber, we still have the pro…"

"No!" Xander interrupted, cutting Spike off. Everyone turned to him at the sudden outburst. "I mean, it won't be enough," he said calmer.

Buffy looked back and forth between Xander and Spike. Everyone seemed to be waiting on what she was going to say. Finally her eyes settled on Xander. "Do you really think we can do this?"

Spike let out a grunt and pushed himself away from the table, walking away. "I'm not going to lie to you Buffy, the odds aren't exactly in our favor. But it's the best shot we have, and I think we can do it."

Buffy nodded. "Okay."

"Don't listen to him slayer, this is crazy!" Spike hollered.

Xander stood up to stand eye to eye with Spike. "Spike! Just trust me okay, I have a plan."

Spike opened his mouth to say something but he stopped. Maybe it was just dust, but he could have sworn that he saw Xander wink at him. And the look on his face, it wasn't that of someone who had just come up with the suicide plan that he had just pitched, his expression was much too confident. Like he had something up his sleeve. "Whatever, mate," Spike said, walking away from the table. He walked over to the counter and hopped up onto it, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

"Good, it's settled," Xander said. "Now we just have to work out the particulars." He sat back down, looking at Tara and Dawn. "Tara, maybe you should take Dawn home now."

"Hey, I thought you wanted to include me in this!" Dawn insisted.

"I do Dawnie, but I also want to keep you safe," Xander said.

Dawn had a feeling why Xander wanted her to leave. She thought it had something to do with what they had to talk about. About maybe having to kill Willow or the others if they were forced to. She understood that he wouldn't want her to hear that, but it still bugged her. "I'm not a kid anymore," she said, without the usual venom in her voice that went along with that statement.

"I know you're not," Xander said.

"Xander's right Dawn," Buffy chimed in. "This isn't anything that you need to hear, you should go home," she said in a calm and loving voice.

Xander couldn't resist smiling at that a little. He was so relieved that the two of them had worked things out between the two of them. "I promise to keep you in the loop, okay," he added to Dawn.

"Okay," Dawn said, standing up to gather her things.

"Tara, will you make sure she gets home okay?" Xander asked again.

Tara looked up at Xander and paused for a second. "Of course," she answered.

Xander stood and watched as Tara gathered her things and she and Dawn said goodbye to everyone. He watched as they walked out the shop's front door. He waited until the door was closed all the way before turning around to face the others again. "Okay, forget everything I just said. Here's the real plan."

Buffy blinked in surprise. "What?"

Spike smiled. "I knew you had something up your sleeve. Not even you are dumb enough to run straight into the lion's den like that."

Xander smiled back. "I told you to trust me, Spike."

"I don't understand Xander, what's going on?" Buffy asked.

"We're setting a trap," Xander answered.

Anya came out from behind the counter and walked up to Xander. "You mean, we're not really going to use that crazy plan you just said?"

"No Ahn, we're going to use a slightly less crazy plan."

"Oh, well good," Anya deadpanned. Xander smiled and gave her a hug.

"I don't understand, how are we setting a trap by telling Dawn a phony plan?" Buffy asked.

"That wasn't for Dawn, it was for Tara." Three pairs of puzzled eyes settled on Xander. "I'll explain. It's like this…"

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Willow was sitting in her elaborately decorated living room, on her overstuffed couch, watching Xander talking on the big screen TV in front of her. Rak and Amy sat on either side of her on the couch, Jonathan and Andrew were standing off to one side watching as well, and Warren was next to the TV, leaning over a device that was attached to the TV with wires.

"Unbelievable," Willow said.

"They can't possibly be that foolish," Amy said.

"Desperation breeds foolish actions," Rak commented.

"He's right," Willow said.

"Still, I can't believe the slayer agreed to it," Warren said.

"She's always had a death wish," Willow said. "It makes sense that she'd want to get it over with as quickly as possible. And after what Xander just found out about his precious hero, I'm not surprised he would either."

"They want Tara to take Dawn home," Warren said, turning to Willow. Willow turned back to the TV, watching as Xander talked to Dawn.

"Tara, will you make sure she gets home okay?" Xander asked again.

Warren looked over to Willow. Willow nodded. "It's okay, we know everything we need to know. We don't want the robot to do anything too out of character, they might start to suspect something."

Warren turned back to his device and spoke into it. "Of course."

"Of course," the Tara-bot repeated.

"Put it back on automatic now," Willow told Warren. "We have preparations to make."

(7/12)

Xander looked across the table at three stunned faces. "That's my plan."

It took a few moments for everything Xander had told them to sink in. Finally Buffy spoke. "I have a question."

"Just one?" Spike commented.

"You're telling me that Tara is a robot?" Buffy continued, ignoring Spike. "How could you let Dawn leave with her!" Buffy yelled, rising to her feet.

"Buffy, calm down. If the robot were here to hurt Dawn, it would have done it by now. And if it's programmed to act like Tara, which it appears that it is, it wouldn't be capable of hurting her. No, it's here as a spy." Buffy sat back down, looking calmer but still a little upset with Xander.

"How do you know she's a robot?" Anya asked.

"I noticed she was acting a little odd earlier today when I was at Buffy's house. Tara gave me a number where I could reach her before she left, in case of an emergency. On a hunch, I called the number. Tara answered the phone. We figured it out together. She's on her way here now."

Buffy shook her head. "I can't believe Willow would have a Tara robot built just to spy on us."

"Something tells me that isn't the only reason, Luv," Spike said.

Xander let out a sigh. "Sadly, I think Spike is right. You saw how obsessed Willow became with Tara joining her. Once Tara left town…well, it makes sense."

"Why didn't you just tell us what you were up to, mate?" Spike asked Xander.

"I needed your reactions to be real. I'm sorry if I scared you guys. And I'm sorry that I yelled at you Spike, but you were about to mention the protection amulet. And that's an advantage that we need, I couldn't let Willow find out about it."

"How did you know that Buffy would go for it?"

Xander glanced at Buffy nervously for a second. "I just took a chance that I'd be able to convince her that it was our only choice." Spike and Xander exchanged a brief look. Spike knew that wasn't all of it, but Xander's look convinced him that now wasn't the time to bring it up.

"What I don't understand is that your real plan isn't that far from the one you told them," Spike continued.

"It's enough to give us an advantage."

"But why tell them we're coming at all? Why not say that we're going to attack next week?"

Xander shook his head. "We're talking about powerful magic here, they're going to see us coming no matter when we attack. The only way to get the element of surprise back, is to mislead them as to what's coming. Make them overconfident." Xander looked around at all three of them again. "So, what do you guys think?"

"I think that Oz's humus plan from graduation is starting to seem sensible," Buffy said.

"I don't know if I can do what you want me to," Anya said. "It's been a while, I'm a little out of practice."

"When you said *slightly* less crazy, you weren't kidding," Spike put in. "It might not be suicidal, but it's still damn foolhardy." He paused. "But you're right, it's the best shot we have."

"Agreed," Buffy said flatly after a few seconds.

Xander smiled a little. "Good," he said, turning to Anya. "Ahn, don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine, and you'll have Tara to help you. She's going to be our biggest advantage."

Anya nodded. "I'll start getting the ingredients we'll need together," she said, heading behind the counter to look through the shelves."

"And I'll go find Clem, see what kind of muscle I can scrounge up," Spike said, heading for the door.

Xander nodded goodbye to the departing vampire before looking back across the table at Buffy. She was looking down at the tabletop with a pensive look on her face. "Are you going to be okay with this plan? I know that it won't be easy for you."

Buffy waved him off. "I'll be fine," she said.

Xander was torn. On one hand, he didn't want to bring up their argument from earlier, Buffy clearly seemed mad at him still. But on the other hand, the battle to come required everyone at their peak, and he needed to make sure that Buffy would be able to deal. Because if she walked into this battle distracted, she could get killed.

"Buffy, about earlier," he started. She looked up. "I know that it probably doesn't seem like it to you right now, but I said what I said because I care about you."

"I know," Buffy said after a moment.

She sounded almost like a scolded child, which surprised Xander. "I just want to make sure that you're going to be able to focus on what's ahead. I don't want you to get hurt."

After everything she had put him through, after everything she had said and did to him not four hours earlier, he was still worried for her safety. He wasn't even angry, not even a little bit. Buffy looked into his eyes and all she saw was concern. She just didn't understand it. Why wasn't he still yelling at her? Why hadn't he just left, years ago? She wanted to say she was sorry? She wanted to tell him how important he was to her, and how thankful she was to him for everything he had done for her, and for Dawn. But when she opened her mouth to speak, none of that came out. "I'll…I'll be fine. I know how to stay focused."

Xander knew that she was right. After everything that she had been through the fact that she was still alive attested to that. He just needed to hear it. He was having trouble reading her. She didn't seem mad anymore, just sad. He wasn't sure he knew why. "Do you want to talk about it? About…anything?"

"I…" she started. But she stopped herself. "Maybe later."

Xander nodded. "Okay. Well, I guess I have a phone call I should make," he said, rising from the table.

Buffy reached out and touched Xander's hand. "Wait." Xander stopped and looked down at her. "I'll call."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Xander just nodded. He gave her a little half smile and turned, heading towards where Anya was looking through the shelves.

Buffy took a deep breath and made her way to the phone. She needed to stay focused if they had any hope of surviving what was to come. At least that's what she told herself. The truth was that she was just too afraid of what would happen if she went down that road, if she told Xander everything that she had been thinking. She was afraid of his feelings, and of her own. She told herself that she had time, she would wait until after tomorrow night. She just hoped that they would both still be alive after tomorrow night.

She picked up the phone and dialed the numbed from memory. It only rang twice before someone picked it up and spoke.

"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless."

(8/12)

Spike and Xander were walking side by side through the sewers on their way to the mansion. Spike was dressed as usual, all in black with his leather duster. Xander was dressed similarly, in black tee shirt and jeans, with a stolen light saber hanging from his belt.

"So what happened to Clem and the rest of your poker buddies?" Xander asked, breaking the silence.

"You may be surprised to hear this, but soulless demon types aren't really into selfless missions that they have no stake in."

"You're here," Xander pointed out. Spike shrugged. "I guess you're just a big old softy at heart."

"Bollocks! I care about the slayer and the little bit. The rest of you can all get fucked as far as I care."

"Right," Xander said, sounding unconvinced.

"You have no idea how bleedin' frustrating this is! I used to be the badest of the big bads. I cut a swatch across Europe, leaving nothing but blood and carnage in my wake, and I loved every minute of it. Then some wanker in a lab coat decides that it would be fun to cut my balls off just to see what happens, and just like that I trade my fangs in for a white hat. I mean, what the hell is wrong with me? No matter what I do, no matter who I am, monster or man, part of me is disgusted by it."

"Love does strange things."

"This isn't about love," Spike insisted. Xander just looked at him. "Okay, maybe it is. All I know is that I can't win for losing. Buffy is just as guilty here as I am, if not more. But somehow I'm the bad guy here."

"You're not exactly squeaky clean here Spike. You knew what Buffy was feeling, and you used that, you manipulated her. But you're right, this isn't solely your fault either, Buffy knew who and what she was dealing with. I know how you feel. The same thing happened to me when Willow and I had our little fluke. It seemed like everyone blamed me for what happened, even Willow herself." Xander's voice quieted and his face fell some as he thought about his best friend. "It took time, but we worked though it."

"Unfortunately I don't see that happening for me in the near future. I just wish I knew how to fix this, all of this."

"Pick one," Xander answered simply.

"What?"

"Pick one. Good or evil, pick one."

"It's not exactly that simple."

"Why not? You don't know what you are, so figure out what you want to be, and go for it. Do whatever you need to do to become what you want to be. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but at least you'll have one goal and you won't be so damn confused, or whiny."

Spike opened his mouth to dispute him, but nothing came out. Could it really be that simple? "Just…pick one?"

"Yeah," Xander answered. "But do it later, we're almost there."

Spike looked ahead and saw that Xander was right. "You really think this crazy plan of yours is going to work?"

"It has to," Xander answered simply. "Angel says that this is one of the better hidden sewer entrances, chances are Willow doesn't know about it. We should be able to catch them by surprise. Plus, we have Angel and Gunn running interference for us up front."

"They're going to wonder where the rest of us are, they'll know we're coming."

"Yes, but they won't know where we're coming. Barring any problems, the attacks should be perfectly synchronized. They're not expecting the numbers we have, they've underestimated us again. They'll throw some token demons at us, to toy with us, and we'll be up and in their faces before they even know what hit them." Xander checked his watch. Sunset was 6:17, so the attack was set for exactly 6:30. It was now 6:29:34. "Come on, it's almost time."

Xander jogged ahead to a ladder that went up from the passage they were walking though. At the top there was a grate, which according to Angel lead into the boiler room, which was just off the basement. Xander climbed the ladder silently, followed closely by Spike. He reached the grate and lifted it quietly, pushing it to one side. He pulled himself up to the floor and turned to give Spike a hand. Spike had his hand on the last rung and was pulling himself up through the hole when his head slammed against something hard.

"Bloody hell!" he yelled, nearly falling off the ladder. He caught himself and started rubbing his head.

"Shhhh!" Xander exclaimed to silence the vampire. "What is it?" he whispered.

Spike raised his hand up to the opening Xander had just climbed through, where it met an invisible barrier. "I think we've just found our first problem, mate."

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Angel and Gunn were walking side by side through the streets of Sunnydale toward Angel's old mansion, the setting sun behind them. Both were clearly prepped for battle. Angel was carrying a sword, and Gunn was carrying his favorite crossbow, the one that wrapped around his forearm. He also had a battleaxe strapped to his back. Gunn's face was hard, impassive. He was psyching himself up for battle. Angel looked nervous, unsure.

"I still can't believe we're doing this," Angel commented.

"We've faced worse situations than this."

"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about walking into battle according to a plan conceived by Xander Harris of all people."

"What's wrong with that? Even Wes said that it was a good plan, and I didn't see you coming up with anything better."

"Yeah, well…it was short notice."

Gunn snorted. "Don't get me wrong Angel, you're a great champion and all, but you're not exactly a master strategist. Your plans usually consist of killing everything that moves and sorting out the particulars later." Angel just shook his head. Gunn looked over at him, there was clearly something bothering him. "Come on, what's the deal? You've had a bug up your ass ever since we got into town."

Angel just turned away. Gunn thought he wasn't going to answer, but after a moment he spoke. "Buffy's had such a hard time this year. What with coming back from the dead, Giles leaving, and Willow's turn to the dark side. I guess I just didn't realize how hard until I saw her again. It was her eyes, she just looked so…broken. I have a feeling that there's more going on here than she's telling me. And Xander knows what it is, I can tell."

"So," Gunn replied. "He's her friend. If she has a problem, why shouldn't she tell him about it."

Angel paused. "I used to be the person she told stuff to, the shoulder she cried on. I guess I just feel a little guilty for not being here for her."

"You guys have two separate lives now, and you've had your own drama this year. She knows that. If she needed you, she would have called." Angel looked away again. "But she didn't," Gunn said with realization. "That's what's really bugging you, isn't it? That she didn't call. That she didn't need you."

"I came to my own realizations after Buffy died. Realizations that as much as I loved her, like you said, she isn't part of my life anymore. I guess I just thought…I don't know what I thought."

"That she hadn't moved on?"

Angel just shrugged. "Now the only friend she has left is Xander, and things have gotten so bad that she's taking battle advice from him."

"What's your beef with the man? I haven't met him yet, but he sounds like an okay enough guy."

"He's overgrown child, and he never takes anything seriously."

"When things get heavy he tries to keep it light, to keep everyone else's spirits up. That's what Cordy told me."

"He can't fight, he just gets himself hurt and Buffy has to rescue him."

"Didn't Buffy say that he kicked those geeks collective asses the other night, and two Polgara demons to boot."

"And what does he know about strategy, how can he put a plan of action together?"

"Well, if this plan is any indication, he knows quite a bit."

"He's…he's just a kid," Angel said, not being able to think of anything else.

"Three years is a long time, especially in a place like this. Sounds like he grew up." Angel snorted. Gunn turned and looked at him with realization. "You're jealous!"

"What! I am not, that's ridiculous! What could I possibly be jealous of, his comic book collection?"

"You just said it yourself man, he's a major part of Buffy's life now, and you're not." Angel didn't respond. He couldn't deny it. "You've moved on with your life Angel, you have to let her do the same."

Angel sighed. "Maybe you're right," he said solemnly.

Gunn checked his watch. "It's almost time, where's this mansion of yours."

"We're almost there, it's just around this corner."

The sight that greeted Gunn and Angel as they rounded the corner was one that they would not soon forget. Standing in front of the mansion was a crowd of demons so thick, they couldn't even see the front door.

"Looks like Xander was right," Gunn said. "He said there would be a hoard of demons guarding the doors. How many do you think?"

"Thirty or forty," Angel answered. "They're just meant to slow us down, we'll cut through them like butter."

"Fyarl demons, Polgara demons…ah man, Fungus demons! I hate Fungus demons! You can never get that stench out. These clothes are going to be ruined."

"You think they're bad, stay away from the blood from those Polgaras."

"Bad?"

"Smells like a skunk getting a permanent in the septic tank of a slaughter house."

"Ah, man!" Gunn whined again. "I just bought these jeans!"

"Come on you big baby, we got work to do."

And with that, the two warriors rushed into the fray, weapons swinging.

8888888888888

"Come in Spike! Come in! I invite you in!"

"Quit yanking on my arm you wanker, that's not going to help!"

Xander finally let go of Spike's arm and sat back on his heels. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Willow must have gotten the mansion switched over to her name. Shit!"

"So now what do we do, genius?"

"Why can't I invite you in?"

"Only a human who lives here can invite me in. You don't live here."

A voice came out of the darkness. "But I do."

Xander was on his feet immediately, just as the lights in the room came on to reveal the speaker. It was Warren, standing at the foot of the stairway on the other side of the room. Xander looked around the room quickly. There was electrical equipment all over the place, robot parts, and technical manuals spread open. In the corner behind him was the water heater, he saw it when he first came in.

"She put your lab in the boiler room?" Xander asked. "You know how big this place is, right? Don't you think that says something about how she thinks of you?"

Warren just sneered as he took a light saber off his hip. He ignited it and took a stance. The blade was red. "If only you knew the power of the…"

"Hey dickweed!" Xander interrupted. "My best friend since diapers is upstairs right now with a soul darker than midnight at the bottom of a coal mine, and everyone else I love in this world is marching into certain death just to stop her! So can we dispense with the witty banter and just get to the part where I kick your ass. We're a little pressed for time," he said, igniting his light saber.

Warren just shrugged. "Your funeral."

Warren leapt forward with a downward swing of his light saber. Xander blocked it, and the next one, and the next one. He was moving fast, trying to keep Xander on the defensive. He was a much better swordsman than either Andrew or Jonathan. His attacks were much sharper, his movements much more deliberate. He backed Xander up against a table, pinning him. Xander waited for another downward swing before sidestepping. Warren cut the table in half with his light saber. His saber meeting less resistance than he had planned for, he left his side exposed. Xander jabbed his elbow into his ribs and somersaulted forward, putting more room between him and his opponent.

Warren whirled around and swung without even looking. Xander stepped forward and easily blocked it, lashing out with his foot and catching Warren in the midsection. Warren doubled over, nearly dropping his light saber. His finger slipped off the button and the blade retracted.

"Done already?" Xander asked.

Warren looked up, out of breath and with hatred in his eyes. "Not even close."

He activated his light saber again and lunged at Xander with it. Xander parried, but that didn't stop Warren's momentum. He crashed into him, pushing him up against the wall with his shoulder. Warren had both his arms pinning Xander's right arm against the wall. Xander punched with his left, hitting Warren in the side as hard as he could. What he didn't expect was Warren's elbow in his stomach. Xander grunted in pain, and Warren used the distraction to backhand him across the face. Xander was disoriented, and Warren took advantage. He backed up and took a swing with his light saber, which Xander barely managed to dodge, causing the weapon to bury itself in the wall behind him.

Warren pried it loose just as Xander was getting to his feet again. The two started to circle each other. "You're not so tough," Warren commented.

"I'm just warming up," Xander said. And with that, he struck. Two quick swings, which Warren blocked. "I've faced master vampires." Another swing, blocked. "A pure blood demon." Two more swings, one high and one low. Blocked, and barely blocked. "A demon/cyborg." A lazy swing from Warren, easily blocked. Xander pushed his saber against Warren's, until the point where they crossed was inches from Warren's face. The sparks from where the blades touched causing him to flinch. "And a Hell goddess." Xander gave one final push, sending Warren tumbling to the ground. He tried grabbing at the table closest to him, but he only succeeded in dumping its contents on top of him as he fell. He looked up to see Xander standing over him. "Trust me, you're nothing."

Warren almost looked like he was about to cry, but his face twisted in rage and he screamed in anger, lunging at Xander again. Xander delivered a quick kick to his stomach, using Warren's own momentum to increase the impact. Warren doubled over and groaned in pain.

Xander picked up Warren's fallen light saber and slid it into his front pocket. Then he grabbed Warren by the hair and pulled him over to where Spike was still standing, on the ladder under the open sewer grate. Xander stopped just before the grate and swept Warren's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. Xander got down and put his knee in his back to keep him pinned there. Then he turned his head to the side and pressed his face against the concrete floor.

Spike was smiling. "Not bad Droopy, not bad at all."

"Okay Warren, this is what's going to happen," Xander spoke. "Look at me." Xander held up his light saber, deactivated, for Warren to see. Then he pressed the business end up against Warren's temple. "You're going to invite Spike here inside, or I'm going to ventilate you're skull. Comprendé?"

"You won't kill me, I'm human," Warren mumbled as best he could with his face pressed against the floor.

Xander closed his fingers around a clump of Warren's hair, picked up his head, and bounced it against the floor. Even Spike winced at the sound it made. Warren cried out in agony. Xander grabbed his hair again and leaned his face down closer, his eyes boring holes through Warren's. "You think you know me?" he hissed. "You think you know what I've been through, or what I'm capable of? You've chosen evil as a way of life and you don't even understand what it is, where it comes from. It comes from selfishness, and apathy. It comes from greed, and anger, and hatred. It's bred in the minds of men like you, undisciplined men who wield a power that they have no right possessing.

"You can't fight evil without it touching you, changing you. I was fifteen when they took one of my closest friends. They turned him, and they sent him after us. They used him, through me, to get to the slayer. I killed him, with my own hands. I killed one of my best friends. I got no problem killing you." Xander pushed the light saber against Warren's temple again. "So what's it going to be?"

Warren looked up at Xander with such fear in his eyes. Fear unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It was in Xander's eyes, a cold determination that told him that he meant what he said. That he had come here this night for a purpose, and nothing would sway him from his task. Like all true cowards, Warren submitted to the fear.

"Spike, come in," he said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

Spike bound up into the lab in two steps. "Good show, kid," Spike commented to Xander. "Good show."

Xander looked up at him. "See if you can find anything useful in here," he said. "Weapons, or the remote unit for the Tara-bot. Trash everything else. And do it fast, we're already behind schedule." Spike nodded.

"What…what are you going to do to me?" Warren asked.

Xander and Spike looked down at him again. Spike smiled. "Say goodnight sweet prince," he said.

The last thing Warren saw before he was claimed by the darkness of unconsciousness was Xander's fist coming straight at his face.

8888888888888

Gunn was in trouble. The normal tactic in a forty on two fight, if you're the two, is to fight back to back. That way, you don't have to worry about attacks coming from behind. That's what Angel and Gunn were doing on the front lawn, and they were doing very well. They cut a swatch through their ranks, killing at least a dozen of them on the way to the front door. Gunn dropped his crossbow after two bolts, not having enough time to reload it, and just concentrated on his axe. He buried the business end of it right between the eyes of Polgara demon as he charged through the front door. Assuming of course that his partner was right behind him. By the time he realized that Angel wasn't behind him, and that in fact he couldn't even enter the building, enough demons had made there way inside to block his way back out the door. He was on his own now, surrounded by vicious, hulking demons, with nothing but an axe to protect him. His clothes were torn, and he was covered in bruises, cuts, and foul-smelling demon blood. In a word, he was in trouble.

He was prying his axe out of the midsection of a Fungus demon when he felt them closing in behind him. This was it. After everything he had been through, after all the impossible fights that he had fought and come out of, he was going to die. Ripped apart by a hoard of demons, who would leave his body broken, bleeding, and rank. But just when he had consigned himself to his fate, he heard a commotion behind him.

Cutting through the hoard were two men dressed in black, one with dark brown hair, the other blonde. Gunn thought he must have hit his head, because it looked like the dark-haired one was wielding a green light saber. He made his way over to him, slicing a few demons in half along the way.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he got there. Gunn just nodded dumbly. "I'm Xander, you must be Gunn."

"Can we save the introductions for later, I'm in trouble out here!" Angel yelled from outside.

"Right," Xander said. "Spike help him, I have to find Andrew."

"Who's Andrew?" Gunn asked as Spike made his way to the front door to help his grandsire.

"He's the one controlling these demons," Xander answered. "One third of the geek squad, in charge of demon summoning and Star Wars decals. The little weasel has to be around here somewhere." Xander started towards the stairs, looking around the room. "Where could he be?" he said aloud. Gunn just watched, he could tell from his tone that he had something up his sleeve. Xander climbed up the first two steps, still acting like he was looking around. Suddenly, he grabbed the railing and jumped over it, to the other side of the staircase. Gunn heard what sounded like a punch, and someone yelling "OW!"

A second later, Xander came walking out from behind the staircase, dragging a skinny blonde kid by his ear. The kid had his hand over his eye. "You have been a bad little boy, haven't you Andrew?" Xander scolded. He yanked on his ear again, hard. "Haven't you!"

"OW! What do you want?"

"Invite Angel in."

"No way!"

Xander ignited his light saber and held it up to Andrew's neck.

"Oh Angel, come in, won't you," Andrew called out.

With that, Angel ran into the building, followed closely by Spike. Angel turned and slammed the big wooden door closed, he and Spike pressing their backs against it to keep the demons out.

"Good boy Andrew," Xander said, deactivating his light saber and lowering it. "I'm going to have to knock you out now."

"I understand."

Xander punched him once square in the face, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

"You want to tell me why I have to be invited into my own house, Xander?" Angel asked, clearly not happy.

"Well, it would seem that Willow had the place put in her name. It was ah,…something that we didn't foresee. Sorry about that." Angel just glared. "Why don't you two head upstairs, Gunn and I can take the rest of these guys," Xander said. "Right Gunn?"

"Sure thing."

Angel nodded and got ready to let go off the door. "Oh, wait," Xander said. He pulled another light saber out of his pocket and tossed it to Gunn.

Gunn pressed the button and smiled as a red blade shimmered into existence. "Cool."

"You ready now?" Angel asked, clearly annoyed.

Xander ignited his light saber and took a stance. "Ready."

Angel and Spike let go of the door, and a few seconds later and came flying open, broken off its hinges. Xander leapt into the fray, his light saber swinging, as Angel and Spike headed up the stairs.

Gunn stopped Angel with a hand as he walked past him. He leaned closer to him. "Definitely grew up," he said.

Angel followed Gunn's gaze to Xander, who was taking apart demons left and right with the green energy blade. He nodded. "I guess so."

(9/12)

Wesley and Buffy sat crouched in the trees behind the courtyard in the back of the mansion. Both were dressed in dark clothing, and both had their eyes glued to the building, and the occasional group of demons that would walk by, patrolling the perimeter. Buffy was fingering a stake nervously, a crossbow slung over her back. Wesley was calm and focused, unmoving, with no weapons visible on his person.

"What time is it?" Buffy whispered as they watched another group of demons round the building.

"Thirty seconds after the last time you asked me," Wesley said, not bothering to look at his watch. Buffy glared at the former watcher. Wesley glanced her way briefly before returning his attention to the mansion, his expression unchanged.

"We should go in," Buffy said impatiently.

"Not yet. We need the battle up front as a distraction. It is imperative to this plan that our entrance go undetected."

"Do you really think this is going to work?"

"The witches' coven in LA has been monitoring the rising of dark energies surrounding Sunnydale ever since Willow's…increase of power. They were more than happy to help when I told them what we were doing. The magiks that they've infused me with, coupled with the spell Anya and Tara are preparing to cast, should be enough."

"I hope so."

"Granting that I'm able to get close enough to use it, and we're not captured before hand. Which will be remarkable if you remain as unfocused as you are now."

"What the…" Buffy started a little too loud. She lowered her voice to a whisper again. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means…" Wesley trailed off, something catching his eye. Buffy followed his gaze and saw the same demons round the back of the mansion again. Wesley waited until they were gone before glancing at his watch. "The patrols are two minutes and thirteen seconds apart," he said, turning to Buffy. She was still glaring at him. "I'm more observant than you give me credit for, Buffy. A watcher is trained to know what their slayer is thinking and feeling, even before they know it themselves."

"I am *not*…"

"My slayer," Wesley interrupted. "I'm well aware of that. But for the sake of this operation, you are my partner. And it's success, as well as the lives of all concerned, hinge on us performing the task assigned to us. So you'll forgive the personal intrusion."

"We're talking about my best friend here, I'm focused!"

"All the more reason to be distracted. You're jumpy, impatient, and quick to anger. It's more than just Willow, she's been like this for months. Maybe not long enough to accept it, but long enough to get used to it. No, it's something more recent."

Buffy watched Wesley while he spoke. His tone wasn't angry or accusatory, it was flat. And his eyes never moved from the mansion the whole time he spoke to her.

"I know we were never close Buffy, you never really accepted me as your watcher." He paused. "But then I never gave you reason to. I was pompous, arrogant, lacking even one bit of practical battle experience. Not to mention I was trying to replace someone who was very dear to you. I don't blame you for the way you treated me. I never tried to replace Giles in your heart, I knew that would be impossible. I was just trying to do my job to the best of my abilities. But regardless, I failed you and Faith, and I'm sorry for that."

Buffy was just in shock. This man was so far different from the Wesley she had known, he wasn't even the same person. There was no arrogance, or superiority in his voice. Only…regret. He was actually apologizing to her. Cordelia had told her that he had changed, but she hadn't really believed until that moment.

"I…I don't know what to say."

"I may not have been there for you then, but I'm here now. Even if it's just as someone to talk to. It might help to get it off your chest, whatever it is. It's important to me for you to know that I've changed."

"Why?"

"Well, because your opinion means a great deal to me. I like to think that I've changed a great deal from the man who was your watcher, that I finally make a difference in the world now. Maybe it's selfish of me, but your opinion would go a long way towards validating that."

Buffy was once again rendered speechless. After everything that had happened in the last few days she was feeling lower than a worm's belly. To have someone she barely knew, someone whom she'd only ever treated with contempt and scorn, tell her that her opinion meant something to him. It validated her, it reminded her who and what she was. She was human, she made mistakes. But she was also the slayer, and more importantly, she was Buffy Summers. And that was worth something. After what seemed like forever, Buffy spoke again.

"It's Xander," she said. Wesley glanced at her to let her know that he was listening. "With everything that's been happening lately, returning from the dead, this whole thing with Willow, and…other things. I've just been so distant with the people I care about, specifically Dawn and Xander. And this whole time, he's been right here beside me. When it seemed like everyone I ever cared about had left, he was still there. But I pushed him away, kept him at arm's length. It must have hurt him so much, for me to push him away after everything we've been through together. But still he stayed. He never complained, and he never once showed me anything less that total love and loyalty.

The other night he found out about something. Something I had done, something very bad. I was expecting him to be angry, to yell and scream. He was, and he did. But under the anger there was concern, there was…love. I was so angry, at myself, at the world. I just wanted to fight, and I didn't care who or what it was. I hurt him, I know I did. But still, he stays. And I realized…" she trailed off, pushing back tears. "I realized that this is how I've always treated him. I've always taken him for granted, and not given him the respect he deserves. So much so that he expects it. But still, he stays, and he tries. I just…I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?" Wesley asked, watching as the patrolling demons reappeared. Buffy waited until they were gone again before continuing. Wesley checked his watch again.

"How does he put up with me? How can he not hate me after all I've put him through and what I've turned his life into? Why does he stay? How can he still…" she trailed off again. "How can he still love me?"

"Maybe your opinion means a great deal to him too," Wesley said. He turned and glanced at Buffy again, giving her a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid that I don't know Xander as well as you do, and from what I do know about him, that's my loss. But what I do know, is that Xander has a very big heart. It leads him, dictates his actions, more so than his brain in some instances. I've always admired his bravery, but above all, his devotion. The devotion that he shows his friends is of a kind rarely seen in the world, especially for one so young. And the devotion he shows to you, well, I think it's fair to say that it's second only to Willow. That much is evident to anyone who spends more than five minutes with all of you."

Buffy couldn't help but remember something Xander had said to her once. His voice reverberated in her head along with Wesley's words.

'Let me tell you something. When it's dark and I'm all alone, and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever. I always think, what would Buffy do? You're my hero.'

"His hero," Buffy muttered to herself, as she silently promised herself to have a long talk with Xander when all of this was over, to make things better. But she was pulled out of her introspection by the sounds of battle. Screams, the sounds of metal meeting flesh, and inhuman growls. Her head picked up and she turned to Wesley. "Do you hear that?"

Wesley nodded. "Yes, I do." He checked his watch.

"How much time?"

"A minute and twenty seconds."

"Let's go."

This time Wesley didn't argue, he just followed Buffy through the trees. He noticed the difference immediately in her behavior. Her movements were stealthy and deliberate, her grip on her weapon tight. Her eyes were on the mansion in front of her, her ears aware of every sound around her. Gone were all distractions. In short, she was focused. Arriving at the back door, she broke the lock quickly and quietly, and the pair slipped inside.

8888888888888

Tara and Anya sat hidden in the woods behind the mansion. Tara was crouched down on the ground, looking over the items for the spell they were preparing to cast. And Anya was standing half hidden behind a tree, looking at the back of the mansion through a pair of binoculars Xander had given her. "Okay, they're inside," she said, taking the binoculars off and kneeling down next to Tara. She reached for the watch on her wrist and started the stopwatch. "Are we ready?"

"Almost," Tara answered. She looked up at the other woman. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just worried."

"About the protection spell?"

"About the spell, about how far away we are, about waiting, about Xander. I wish we could cast it for him too."

"If this spell is going to have any power behind it, it has to be focused. And since Buffy and Wesley are the ones that are going to confront Willow, we need to focus it on them. And we can't get closer without risking being detected, and if we do the spell too soon we risk Willow detecting it before Wesley can bind her."

"I know, I know," Anya said. "It's just all so…risky. I worry about him, he's been through so much lately."

"We all have," Tara answered. "Xander's strong, he can handle it."

"He puts on a good front, but inside he's scared. More than I've ever seen him." Tara didn't answer, she just turned back to the book in front of her. "Do you think he loves me?" Anya suddenly asked.

Tara looked back up. "Of course he does, Anya. He loves you very much. Why would you ask that?"

Anya cast a glance at the mansion. "He loves them so much," she said. Tara didn't have to ask who 'they' were, she knew Anya meant Buffy and Willow. "Sometimes I wonder if there's enough left over for me."

"I think I know how you feel," Tara said. "It was the same way with Willow. The three of them had such an incredible bond. One forged over time, with love and friendship. One that could never be broken, by anyone. At least, that's what I used to think."

"It hasn't been broken," Anya said, shaking her head. "They're still always first in each other's minds. The rest of us aren't even close."

"He loves you Anya," Tara reassured. "You were there for him when they weren't, you believed in him when they didn't. You have his heart."

"But they're in his soul. They always will be." Anya just let the statement hang for a moment before checking her watch. "We should start."

Tara just nodded and handed Anya a book. Looking down at her own, they began to chant in unison the incantation for the protection spell.

8888888888888

Buffy and Wesley were moving through the kitchen heading for the back stairs when a voice came out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." The pair turned as the lights in the kitchen came up to reveal Amy standing in the doorway. "The slayer and…who are you?"

"A friend," Wesley answered simply.

"Doesn't matter," Amy said, trying not to show her annoyance at not knowing who the man was. "You won't be anyone in a moment." She held up her hand and a bolt of magic struck out.

Wesley held up his hand almost casually. "Contego," he spoke. The blast struck an invisible shield in front of the pair, causing no damage to either.

"It's good to have friends," Buffy said to Amy with a smirk.

Amy looked furious. She was preparing to launch another attack when Wesley held up his other hand and spoke again. "Constrino."

"No!" Amy yelled, but it was too late. Purple energy shot from Wesley's outstretched hand and struck Amy, wrapping itself around her and pinning her arms to her sides. A moment later, she levitated off the ground a few inches. Amy struggled against the magical bonds, but it was no use. "You son of a bitch, you can't do this to me! Do you know who you're messing with!"

Wesley approached her slowly, unimpressed by her idle threats. "Yes, I do. An undisciplined, spoiled child, wielding a power that she has no understanding of. In a way, you're just another victim. Your soul has been polluted with dark magiks. But you should have known better. You knew what Rak was doing to you, but you were so arrogant and power hungry, you thought you could control it. You've committed the worst sin a magic user can commit. You were irresponsible with your power. And now you're going to pay the price. You will be taken to Los Angeles where a coven of white magic users will cleanse your soul, and strip you of your power permanently."

"You…you can't…"

"Don't worry about it, Amy," Buffy interrupted. "I hear that they're all set up for you. They've got a nice cage with a running wheel and a big bowl of rat kibble, you'll feel right at home."

"You bitch! Willow's going to kill you! She's going to rip your…"

"Silentio," Wesley interrupted. And with that, another band of purple energy shot from his hand and wrapped itself around Amy's mouth, silencing her. "That should keep her from alerting anyone to our presence."

"I don't know, she can be resourceful when she wants to be. I don't want her trying anything. We should knock her out." Amy's eyes widened as she struggled to speak against her gag.

"Agreed," Wesley said. Buffy allowed herself a smile as she pulled back her fist. "Dormio," Wesley spoke. Amy's eyes fell closed and her head slumped down.

Buffy frowned. "Watchers, always have to take the fun out of everything," she mumbled to herself. "Come on, we'll stash her in the pantry," she said louder to Wesley. Wesley nodded and followed as Buffy pushed the still hovering Amy to the other side of the room.

(10/12)

Angel and Spike made their way stealthily through the second floor of the mansion, checking all the rooms for enemies. Spike tried to ignore the dirty looks Angel kept shooting him. He knew that both Xander and Buffy had decided not to tell Angel about her and Spike's little dalliance. They wanted him to keep his mind on the situation at hand, and not killing the blonde vampire. And seeing the anger that his mere presence seemed to stir in his grandsire, Spike couldn't help but agree. Part of him wanted to tell him though, just to see the look on his face. To gloat, to rub in the fact that she wasn't his anymore. But then again she wasn't Spike's anymore either. She never really had been, not in her heart anyway. Angel shot him another dirty look, and Spike had finally had enough. He grabbed him by the shoulders and manhandled him into one of the empty rooms they had just checked.

"All right Peaches, out with it!"

"What the hell are you doing, Spike?"

"You've been giving me the evil eye ever since you got here. So let's settle this."

"There isn't enough time in the world to settle all the problems I have with you, Spike," Angel spat.

"So give me the abridged version then."

"Fine! You want it, here it is! I don't know what you did to get Buffy to trust you, but I don't. She doesn't know you as well as I do." Spike bit back the urge to tell Angel just how well Buffy knew him and let him continue. "You're evil, conniving, and you'd do anything to get what you want. You don't care about what happens to any of these people, all you care about is yourself. I want you to know that I'm keeping my eye on you. I won't let you hurt her."

Spike had dragged Angel into that room, fully intent on letting him have it. But when Angel stopped talking, he didn't do anything. He just stood there for a moment, staring at the other vampire. "That's it?" he asked, incredulously. Angel looked puzzled by that. After years of hanging with the Scoobies, Spike had heard all that, and ten times worse. "No shit, you don't trust me! Nobody trusts me, I'm a bloody vampire for Christ's sake! You think any of them trust me for one second? You think they ask for my help because they like me? I'm hired muscle, no one's inviting me to Christmas dinner! They just don't waste time shooting me dirty looks 'cause their too busy saving the bloody world!" He paused. Angel didn't say anything. "You feel better now, you got that off your chest?" Spike didn't wait for an answer. "Good, we got work to do." And with that, he brushed past him and headed into the hall, leaving Angel stunned and silent.

Angel quickly followed him out into the hall where they both found themselves standing in front of a very large, very mean looking demon. It was at least eight feet tall, with red scaly skin, and two large horns coming out from the sides of its head.

"I AM THE ARCH-DEMON MEMNOCH! DEVOURER OF SOULS! DESTROYER OF WORLDS! OVERSEER OF THE FIFTH LEVEL OF HELL! ALL LESSER BEING TREMBLE BEFORE ME, OR FACE MY WRATH!"

The arch-demon's voice was so deep and loud that the whole house seemed to shake. It was unclear how he expected the two vampires to react to him, but whatever it was, it didn't happen. Angel and Spike just looked at each other, a puzzled expression on Angel's face and an amused one on Spike's. And then Spike burst out laughing. Not a chuckle or a titter, a full-blown guffaw. After a few moments he had to lean on the wall to steady himself. He was laughing so hard that he wasn't even making noise anymore, his eyes were clenched shut and his whole body was shaking with laughter.

Angel just looked back and forth between the demon and Spike. Now the demon looked puzzled. When he spoke next, he actually stammered.

"I…I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP LAUGHING, OR I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Spike's laughter started to taper off until finally he stopped and composed himself. He stood up straight again and opened his eyes, looking straight at the demon. He opened his mouth, and burst out laughing again, even harder than before. He reached out for the wall again, but he was further away from it than he thought, and he fell to the floor, still laughing. Angel smiled at that. Spike climbed to his feet and tried to speak.

"You…you bloody wanker. Can you really be that stupid?" he asked, his laughter finally starting to settle down. "We're vampires you git! We can smell that you're human."

"Unless arch-demons have started using Zest," Angel added. Spike chuckled at that and Angel smiled again.

"Or building plastic models," Spike added.

"Plastic models?" Angel asked.

"The glue."

Angel snapped his fingers. "That's what that is, I couldn't place it."

"Secondly, there is no arch-demon called Memnoch. Where did you get that name anyway?"

"FROM…FROM AN ANNE RICE BOOK."

This time both vampires started laughing.

The demon rolled his eyes in irritation. Then he whispered a few words under his breath and the glamour faded away, leaving only the form of Jonathan Levinson behind. He waited for the vampires to stop laughing and pay attention to him, and when they didn't right away his irritation turned to anger. "Stop laughing at me!" he yelled. He reached into the bag on his hip pulling out a small talisman, and started chanting something.

Spike dove at the young warlock, knocking the talisman from his hand and clamping his hand around his mouth to keep him from casting any spells. But his momentum sent them both sprawling to the floor, with Spike landing on top of Jonathan. Jonathan grunted in pain, and having caused pain to a human, Spike's chip reacted.

"Bloody hell!" he cried out, clutching the sides of his head as the pain ripped through his skull.

Jonathan used the distraction to wiggle out of the vampire's grasp, but he didn't get far before Angel grabbed him. "Whoa there little guy."

"I'm not short!"

Angel covered Jonathan's mouth with his hand. "Whatever you say kid." Angel turned to Spike who was still on the floor. "We have to knock him out."

"What are you looking at me for, I can't do it."

"There's a bottle of chloroform and a rag in my coat pocket." Jonathan's eyes grew wide at the mention of chloroform and he started struggling harder, but Angel held on tight. "And I don't exactly have a free hand at the moment."

Spike picked himself up off the floor and walked over to Angel. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out the bottle and the rag. "You sure do know how to take the fun out of everything, don't you Peaches. What exactly are you carrying this stuff around for?"

"For knocking people out," Angel answered matter-of-factly.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Well, ask a stupid question…" he drifted off. He opened the bottle and poured some onto the rag, turning his attention to Jonathan. "I have to thank you, mate. I needed a good laugh. Sweet dreams." And with that, he held the rag to Jonathan's nose, and the young man lost consciousness.

Angel carried the dead weight into one of the adjacent rooms and closed the door. Walking back over to Spike, he took the bottle back and started screwing the cap back on. Angel still didn't like the blonde vampire, and he still didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. But he felt some of the open hostility he held toward his grandchilde start to slip away. Maybe it was being on the same side of things again after so many years, or maybe it was just the revelation that he wasn't expected to start trusting him again. And just maybe, somewhere deep inside of him, in a part of him that Angel didn't care to admit even existed anymore, he was starting to feel a nostalgic camaraderie with the man.

The pair started down the hall again. "That was pretty funny," Angel admitted.

Spike chuckled. "Yeah, it was."

8888888888888

Xander took the head off the last Fungus demon with a swipe of his light saber, and stopped to catch his breath. He and Gunn had made quick work of the demon horde thanks to their borrowed weapons. The room was now filled with dismembered demon corpses in varying states of decay, the stench of which would linger for a long time to come. Xander looked over at his fighting companion just as he drove his red energy blade into the midsection of the last Polgara demon. He then brought the blade up, exiting the demon's neck. Another strike and the creatures head was gone. He stopped to catch his breath too, catching Xander's eye.

"These things are great," he said, indicating the light saber in his hand. "It's like cutting through butter."

"Keep it," Xander said, deactivating his own and hooking to his belt. "When this is all over we'll go through all the geeks' toys and divvy up the goodies."

Gunn smiled. "Thanks, man," he said, turning his off as well. Xander nodded. "You got some good moves, how'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Living on the Hellmouth, you either learn to fight, or you die."

Gunn nodded. "I know what that's like."

Xander had his back to the staircase when he heard the sound of clapping. Xander didn't turn, but he put one hand on his light saber, and the other on the amulet that hung from around his neck. He had a feeling he knew who was standing behind him, even before he spoke.

"I must say, I'm impressed," Rak said.

Xander took the amulet off the chain and handed it to Gunn, knowing that he was blocking Rak's view of the exchange. "Keep this in your hand," he whispered.

Gunn fought the instinct to nod, knowing that for whatever reason, Xander didn't want Rak to see what he was doing. He held the amulet tightly in his hand and when Xander turned, he casually let his hand fall behind his back.

"Rak," Xander said as he turned. "Fancy meeting you here." He pulled his light saber from his belt, but didn't activate it. His eyes were daring Rak to do something about it.

Rak was standing on the second floor just before the stairs, behind a railing that separated the second floor hallway with the mansions main foyer, which extended higher than the other rooms. He looked from Xander, to the unconscious form of Andrew lying on the steps, then back to Xander again. "He didn't think you'd make it past the demons, even with the light saber. Of course, he didn't know that you would find another one, or that you would have quite so many friends. Or that you'd be able to get the vampire inside."

"And what did you think?" Xander asked.

"You are a resourceful bunch," Rak admitted. "But resource can only get you so far."

Xander moved slowly but unafraid towards the stairs. Gunn stayed where he was, his light saber still in his hand. "And let me guess, you're the one that's going to stop us."

Rak just smiled. "You just don't get it, do you? You think she needs any help at all to destroy you? Do you honestly think that a few more bodies will make a difference? Or maybe you think that you'll be able to talk her out of it in the end, and things will be all puppies and rainbows again. It's not going happen."

"So what exactly are you doing here?" Xander asked, edging even closer to the stairs.

"I'm just the picador," Rak answered with a smile. "Throwing spears into the bulls. She's the matador. She's the destroyer." Rak lifted his fist, glowing with magic, and pointed it at Xander. "I just get to soften you up."

Xander held his ground. He didn't even flinch. And at the last second, just before Rak let go with a blast, he moved his arm and pointed it straight at Gunn. Gunn tried to dive out of the way but the blast struck him. And as Gunn lay curled in a ball on the floor, it took him a few seconds before he realized that nothing was happening. There was absolutely no pain at all.

The second Rak shifted his attention to Gunn, Xander started up the stairs in a full run, taking them three at a time. In a matter of seconds, he was on the second floor and tackling Rak to the ground. Rak's blast was cut off as he tumbled to the ground with Xander on top of him. Xander got in a couple punches to his face as he straddled him, making sure that his knees were pinning the warlock's hands to the ground. Rak just laughed. Xander hit him again, hard, splitting his lip.

"Your friend is dead," he said, still laughing, his teeth covered in blood. "As you all soon will be."

"I hate to disappoint you Rak, but the only person who's going to die tonight is you," Xander said, holding his light saber with the business end against his chest. Rak looked scared and confused. "You all right down there, Gunn?" Xander called out.

"I'm fine," Gunn called back.

Rak looked even more confused now. "First you, then the vampire, and now him. What the hell is going on here?"

"Well, you are getting older. You can't expect to pack the same punch that you used to. It's okay, it happens to a lot of guys." Gunn came jogging up the steps, chuckling at Xander's joke.

"It ever happen to you?" he asked Xander as he walked up to them.

"Hell no," Xander answered.

"Me neither."

"You impudent little…" Rak's insult was cut off by another punch to the face.

"Boy, you must really like getting hit," Xander spat. He turned to Gunn and held out his hand. Gunn handed him the amulet back and he hooked it to the chain again. Rak got a quick look before he tucked it under his shirt.

"A protection amulet," Rak breathed.

"Is that what that thing is," Gunn said. "Well, that explains it."

"Sorry I couldn't give you a heads up," Xander said.

"You mean you knew that he was going to do that!" Gunn asked incredulously.

Xander nodded. "He knew that I was immune to his power the other night, and from my bold attitude he assumed that I still was. He probably figured that I was trying to draw him away from you. And that once you were hit, I would run to you, to protect you, and he would have time to get away."

"That's quite a bluff," Gunn said. "If you were wrong you would have been killed."

Xander turned back to Rak, staring daggers at the man. "But I wasn't wrong."

"So what do we do now, knock him out?"

Xander readjusted his grip on his light saber, still held against Rak's chest, his thumb hovering over the button. "Not exactly."

"Now wait a minute, you can't kill me, I'm human!" Rak insisted.

Xander punched him again. His left eye was starting to turn purple and swell up. "You lost any right you had to call yourself human when you sold your soul for dark magiks," he hissed. "And you lost any chance you had at gaining my sympathy when you hurt my Willow." His teeth were clenched, and his eyes were blazing with hatred. For the first time ever in his life, Rak was afraid.

"She…she came to me!"

"And you used her, and abused her! You feed into her addiction, made her a slave to it! If it hadn't been for you, we could have helped her." Xander paused, his body shaking with disgust and revulsion. "You did this to her!" he shouted.

Gunn looked awestruck at the scene before him. The man he had meant only a short time ago, who had been so cool and collected under pressure, was loosing his mind. Cordelia had told him about Xander and Willow, about the bond they shared. Gunn thought that he understood, he had had best friends before. But Cordelia told him that it was different. That it wasn't something that could be understood unless you could see it. He could see now what she meant, in the eyes of this young man who was operating on pure rage. Part of him told him to put a stop to this, that it wasn't right. That as repulsive as Rak was, he was still human. But he just couldn't bring himself to feel pity for this man. When he thought about it happening in his head, pulling Xander off of him, the Xander in his mind asked him why. And Gunn couldn't think of a reason.

"No, please…" Rak was pleading now.

"You want me to show you mercy? Compassion? Where was your mercy? Where was your compassion! Huh! Where!" He was screaming now. "You took my Willow from me! You took her!" He hit him again, and again, and again, in a fury of rage induced punches. Until Rak's face looked like a pile of hamburger. "You want mercy?" Xander asked him now, the tears streaming down his face. "You ask God." His grip tightened around the handle of the light saber. "Tell him I sent you."

Gunn couldn't help but turn his head when he heard the sound of the light saber ripping into Rak's body. The sound wasn't too dissimilar from the sound it made when you thrust it into a demon's body. It sizzled as it broke through the skin. And it gurgled as it passed through the organs, the liquid in the body boiling from the heat. The only difference was the scream.

Xander held Rak's eyes with his own as tightly has he held the light saber plunged into his chest. He wanted to make sure that the last think Rak saw before he left this earth was his face, the hatred boiling in his eyes.

When it was over, he collapsed in a fit of tears. Tears for his lost friend, and tears for his lost innocence. He had taken a life now, and no matter what happened next, he would never be the same. He didn't regret that he did it, only that he had to do it. He had forgotten completely about Gunn, until the other man touched his shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Xander stood and wiped the tears from his eyes. He composed himself rather quickly considering, and nodded his head. Then he looked at Gunn, trying to find a way to phrase what he had to say next. "If you're not behind this, I'll understand. If you want to tell the others…" he drifted off as Gunn started shaking his head.

"Men like him, they're the worst kind of evil," he said. "Because they chose it. Up here is just like down there," he said, nodding his head toward the foyer. "I got your back. As far as what you want to tell the others, that's up to you."

Xander nodded and held out his hand. Gunn shook it. "Thank you."

Gunn just nodded. "Come on, we better get a move on before all that screaming attracts some unwanted attention."

Xander nodded. He knew Gunn was right. He picked up his fallen light saber and hooked it to his belt again. Taking one last look at Rak's body, he turned and followed Gunn down the hall.

What neither of them knew was that there was only one person left to attract attention from. And she had seen the whole thing.

(11/12)

Willow stood at the window in her bedroom with her back to the door, looking deceptively harmless and oblivious to the world around her. In reality she saw everything that happened around her. Mostly everything anyway. She could see in her mind's eye, the attack on the demon forces in the front. She watched as one by one her allies fell to the slayer's forces. And she watched as Xander, who had been the most important person in her life since she could remember, took a human life in her name. And she smiled. She could feel his anger, his hatred as it burned inside him. He had given into his dark impulses, and Willow knew that she had already won. No matter what happened next, she had already done more damage than any vampire, or demon/human cyborg, or hell goddess ever could. And the darkness inside her took great pleasure in that.

She didn't have to turn around to know that Buffy and Wesley had just walked into the room. "Impressive," she said, not turning around. "I have to admit, I didn't see it coming. You calling in reinforcements. And feeding the robot just enough information to keep us from figuring out what you really had planned. Very clever. I assume the plan was Xander's." Finally she turned around to face the pair, giving them an unsettling smile. "It still isn't enough to stop me, I hope you know that. None of you will leave here alive."

"We don't want to hurt you, Willow," Buffy said. "But we'll do what we have to do."

Willow's smile just grew. "You still think you have power over me," she said, chuckling slightly. "You have no idea what real power is."

"And you have no idea what a slayer is capable of," Buffy bit back. She approached Willow carefully, like a hunter stalking it's prey. Willow's smile never wavered. Wesley just looked on, waiting for a chance to intervene while Willow was distracted.

"You want to dance?" Willow asked. She reached up and touched her cheek, where there would have still been a bruise had it not been for her healing magic. "I guess I do owe you one, don't I?"

Buffy took a fighting stance. "Come and get it."

Willow leapt into the air with inhuman speed, and started coming down right on top of Buffy. Buffy tried to dive out of the way but she wasn't fast enough, and Willow's fist caught her shoulder, sending her crashing to the ground. Buffy tried to tumble backward, to gain some distance from her opponent, but Willow stayed with her the whole way. She delivered blows with incredible speed, faster than anything Buffy had ever fought. Buffy blocked as best she could, but a few of the punches landed. The force behind them would have surprised Buffy, had she had time to be surprised. The slayer concentrated on the fight, watching the flurry of movements from the witch until they seemed to slow down. Of course in reality, Buffy had sped up. She blocked every punch and kick, and got in a few of her own. One kick to the midsection sent Willow flying across the room.

Buffy ran across the room after her. Jumping into the air, she grabbed onto one of the posts of the canopy bed and swung herself around just as Willow was standing up, catching the witch in the side of the head with her foot. She landed on top of her as she fell and got in two more punches to the face before Willow threw her off, sending her flying across the room and slamming into the wall.

"I'm stronger and faster than you, slayer," Willow said, rising to her feet. "Give it up." Buffy's answer was to charge her, catching her in the midsection with her shoulder and driving her against the far wall. Willow shoved Buffy hard to the floor. "This ends now," she said, raising her hands toward the fallen slayer.

"Constrino!" Wesley called out. Willow looked up and saw the purple energy from Wesley's outstretched hands heading straight for her. Willow just held up her hand and the energy stopped inches from it, hanging there in mid air.

"Borrowed power doesn't impress me, Watcher," she said. "It can be so easily manipulated." And with that, she gave the energy a shove and sent it flying back toward Wesley. Not having enough time to dodge it, the energy struck him straight in the chest and wrapped around his arms. Wesley lost his balance and tumbled to the ground.

"Bloody hell!"

"Now, where was I?" Willow said, turning her attention back to Buffy. "Oh yes, I remember now." She held up her hand and a bolt of red magic shot out, straight at Buffy. But it struck an invisible barrier, inches from Buffy's skin. Willow pulled her hand back in surprise. "A protection spell!" she growled.

Just then, Angel and Spike bound into the room. Followed closely by Xander and Gunn. They all just kind of froze for a moment, looking at the scene before them. Willow backed away from Buffy. She started looking around the room, like she was seeing it for the first time. Angel headed for Buffy, to make sure she was all right. Gunn checked on Wesley. But Xander kept his eyes on Willow, who still showed no acknowledgement of anyone else in the room.

"I can't believe I didn't sense it sooner," Willow said, looking back at Buffy. "I can see it in your aura, his too," she said, motioning towards Wesley. Then her eyes locked onto Xander. "And yours, but it's not the same spell. Very clever indeed. Anya is the caster I'm assuming. It feels like her magic, old and out of practice." She paused. "But there's something else, something more familiar. She couldn't have done it alone." Willow stopped at her bedroom window. She turned to look out it, then back to Xander. "It's her," she said with a small amount of surprise. "She's come back to me."

Willow held her hands up in the air, and a swirl of light appeared in front of her. It got bigger, and bigger, until finally it disappeared all together in a flash, leaving Anya and Tara sitting on the bedroom floor atop a patch of grass and dirt. They both swooned as they materialized. Anya looked like she was almost going pass out, but Tara shook it off fairly quickly. She stood up and turned to find her former lover standing in front of her.

"My love," Willow said, holding her arms open. "You've come back to me."

"I've come back to help stop you," Tara said.

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're here. You'll understand soon enough, why I had to do what I've done. I did it for us, baby. I did it all for us."

Tara flinched at that. Xander took advantage of the distracted Willow to help Anya to her feet and take her to the other side of the room, where Gunn and Wesley still were.

"For me? You darkened your soul with black magic for me? All the people you've hurt, all the things you've done to your friends. How can you possibly think that's what I would want?"

"I've done what I've done to grow more powerful. The only people I've hurt are those who stand in my way. Can't you see what I've become? How wondrous the world can be for us now. We can go anywhere we want, do anything we want, have anything we want. Nobody will be able to tell us what to do."

"I can see what you've become, Willow. And it's not the woman I fell in love with. That woman was warm, and sweet, and loving."

"She was a doormat!" Willow shouted. She reached out and grabbed Tara by the shoulders. "People used her, they walked all over her. I won't let that happen again, I won't! If you can't see how extraordinary I've become, I will make you see," she said in a voice that made Tara shiver with fear. Willow let go of her and turned to the others. "Right after I take care of them."

"Listen to yourself Willow! Listen to what you're saying!" Tara insisted. "These are your friends. These are the people you've shared your life with, the people you love. Can't you remember that? Can't you remember how that used to feel, before your soul became so dark?"

Willow smirked as she faced her friends. "Darkness. You all talk about it like you're immune from it. Like it doesn't touch you. You think that because you kill a few demons, you're all righteous angels? Darkness touches us all. Ever since the first caveman clubbed the second caveman over the head to steal his food, it's been a part of us. To deny it, is to admit that you are powerless against it. Burying all your dark impulses only gives them more power. You think you're so much better than me, because you haven't given in. But you have given in, all of you. You just won't admit it."

Willow turned to Buffy, who was still sitting on the floor, Angel kneeling behind her. "You tried to kill Faith after she nearly killed Angel. Stabbed her in the stomach with her own blade. You think you did it just to save his life? You did it because you hated her. Because she hurt you, and you wanted her to die because of it. And to stand here, and be judged by two vampires and a vengeance demon, who have killed more people than I ever could in ten lifetimes, is so ridiculous it's almost laughable!"

Willow turned again and locked eyes with Xander. She walked over to him slowly, both of them not taking their eyes of each other. "And you, who gave into your dark impulses and killed a man not twenty minutes ago." Xander flinched a little at that. Everyone else in the room except Gunn looked shocked. Especially Buffy.

"You saw that?" Xander asked.

"I see everything."

"I've never thought I was better than you Willow," he said. "Never. I make mistakes."

"Is that what it was, a mistake? Can you honestly tell me that if you had it to do over, you wouldn't have done the exact same thing? Can you say that you didn't enjoy it, watching the life drain out of him? Hurting him, because he hurt you. I saw you with Warren. If he hadn't let Spike in, you would have killed him too. We both know that. So what makes you so different from me?" Xander didn't answer. Willow backed away.

"You'll never understand that though, none of you. You'll always be the righteous, and I'll always be the wicked. You'll always see the world as just black and white, good and evil. Because to see it any way else, you'd have to admit to yourselves that you're not perfect. That darkness lurks within us all.

"But none of that matters anymore. Because I'm ending this now, once and for all."

Willow took a few more steps back, until everyone but Tara was in her sight. Her glazed over black as she raised her hands at her sides. No one moved, no one said a word. Those few seconds seemed to stretch on for days. Until Xander slowly started walking towards Willow. He stopped only a few feet in front of her. Then he reached into his shirt and took off the protection amulet, dropping it onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" Xander didn't answer. "You can't stop me."

"Yeah, I get that. But where else am I going to go? You've been my best friend my whole life. If I'm going to die, I want it to be with you. I want the last thing I see to be you."

"Is this your master plan? You're going to stop me by telling me that you love me?"

"Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kind of cartoony."

"Still making jokes."

"I'm not joking. I get what you're saying. None of us are perfect, we all have darkness inside us. I get that now, you know I do. It doesn't mean that we have to give into it though. It's just one of those things that makes being human hard. Maybe we did forget that. I know we hurt you. And I know that you're about to do something incredibly evil and stupid and hey, this is still where I want to be. You're Willow."

"Don't call me th…"

"First day of kindergarten you cried, 'cause you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, killing all your friends, not a terrific notion but the thing is, yeah. I love you. I love crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary dark-eyed Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. You want to kill us all, you start with me. I've earned that."

"You think I won't?"

"It doesn't matter, I still love you."

"Shut up!" Willow screamed. She slashed her hands through the air and Xander winced at the magical blow, his head bouncing down. When he lifted it again there were three slash marks across his face.

"I love you." Willow slashed at the air again. This time the gashes appeared across Xander's chest, ripping his shirt. "I love…" She blasted him with a bolt of magic, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Shut up!" she shouts, her face growing angrier by the second.

"Xander, stop!" Buffy called out.

"No, Buffy," Angel said, as she tried to get up. "He's distracting her. He's giving us a chance."

"A chance to do what?"

Angel glanced over to the other side of the room, and then back at Xander and Willow. "To free Wesley. To bind her. Come on." Angel stood, helping Buffy to her feet. The two moved across the room to where the others were, where Wesley still lay. "Wes," Angel said, trying to get the former watcher's attention. "Wes, how do we break this binding spell?"

"You can't," Wesley said, his voice sounding drained. "Only the caster can remove the spell."

"So remove it then," Buffy said.

"I can't, I'm bound," Wesley said. "I couldn't levitate a pencil right now if I wanted to."

"There has to be another way," Gunn said.

"Willow could lift it, since she reflected the spell back at me." Wesley looked over to where Willow was still beating on Xander. "But I don't think that's going to happen any time soon."

Spike leaned down to join the conversation. "What about Anya and Tara, could they bind her?"

Buffy looked up and saw Tara, trying to get around Willow without letting her notice. She finally managed it and headed straight for the others. She knelt down and checked on Anya first.

"Is she going to be okay?" Buffy asked.

Tara nodded. "Teleportation can be a little rough if you're not the caster. She'll be fine in a little while."

"Xander, no," Anya moaned. That's when Buffy noticed that she was crying. "Xander, don't. I love you. I love you, Xander…"

"Is she dreaming?" Gunn asked.

"No," Buffy said, casting a glance at where Xander and Willow were still facing off. "She knows what he's doing. Tara, can you do anything?"

Tara shook her head. "I'm not powerful enough to bind her."

"We should get out of here," Gunn said.

"It wouldn't do us any good," Spike replied. "She'd come after us when she was done with him. We wouldn't get far."

"We have to do something," Gunn insisted.

Spike just looked up at what was happening before them. "Have faith in him," he said. "He knows what he's doing."

Buffy turned, confused. Xander was just distracting her, to give them a chance to think of something. Or maybe to get away. There was no way he could… "Oh, God." That's when Buffy realized what Spike meant, what Xander was going to do. A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Oh God, no."

"Tell me now, Xander!" Willow screamed, giving him another slash across the face. "Tell me now!"

His face and chest were covered in scratches and welts. His shirt was shredded. There was blood everywhere. His left arm was now cradled in his midsection, probably broken, along with a few ribs. His breathing was ragged. He spit blood out onto the floor before he spoke.

"I…love you."

The rage that had been boiling up in Willow finally hit its peak. She wanted to him to say that he hated her, to curse her for what she was doing. How could she justify killing him, even if only in her own mind, if his last words were to tell her that he loved her? But finally she just snapped.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, her voice dark and foreboding. Her hands came together for a blast of energy, striking Xander in the chest. Bigger than any blast she had ever created. Every ounce of power she possessed went into this blast of bright red crackling energy. Xander cried out in agony as the magical energy tore through his body.

Buffy screamed, tears streaming down her face. Anya was crying so hard she wasn't even making sounds anymore. Buffy tried to run to him, but Angel held her back. And when her strength became too much for him to hold, Spike grabbed hold of the other arm. Tara held onto Anya. Wesley cursed under his breath as he struggled against bonds that he knew he had no chance of breaking free from. Gunn just looked on in awe.

When the blast finally stopped, Willow was so wiped she fell to one knee. Xander wasn't moving. His eyes fluttered a little. He was still breathing, but barely. He was in death's icy grip, but he wasn't gone yet.

"Tell me now, Xander," Willow said softly, out of breath. She laughed. "Tell me now."

Xander spoke, barely a whisper. It was so low in fact, no one could hear what he had said, not even Willow. But he kept whispering, the same thing over and over again. Willow moved toward him, crawling on her hands and knees. She needed to hear it. She needed to hear him damn her, curse her name. She crept even closer, until she was on top of him, her ear inches from his mouth. Until finally she could hear his labored words.

"Forgive…me."

Buffy screamed again when she saw the green energy blade erupt from Willow's back. Tara's back was turned when she heard the sound. She knew what it was. She pulled Anya into a hug and held her tightly, clenching her eyes shut to hold back the tears. Buffy's legs collapsed under her. Angel and Spike just guided her to the floor, and held her while she cried.

Willow just stared at Xander in shock. The blackness drained from her eyes, leaving them their normal green. Xander was glad that the last thing he would see in this world were Willow's eyes. His Willow's eyes. The look on her face slowly changed from shock to sadness. She tried to speak.

"I…I…"

"I know," Xander whispered. His thumb slid off the button on his light saber and the blade retracted, leaving Willow to collapse on top of him. "Love you," he said. And for the first time in a long time, he saw peace in her eyes. Acceptance. She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

They died the same way they had lived since they were five years old. Together.

(12/12)

The mansion was dark, pitch black. Not even a sliver of moonlight slipped through the boarded up windows. And there was no sound, except for the faint ticking some old abandoned clock. Until suddenly the front door was kicked in and two figures entered with flashlights and guns drawn. They scanned the room thoroughly, shining their lights on every surface. The place looked a little more lived in then they had expected, but other than that nothing looked out of the ordinary. Until their lights fell on something very unusual in the middle of the room.

"What did that anonymous caller say exactly?" One of them asked the other.

"Just that we'd find something very interesting here," the other answered.

"This is weird, Sarge."

The other one just laughed. "Weird is par for the course when you're the Sunnydale PD," he said. "Wilson! Barnaby!" the Sergeant called out. Two more cops entered from outside. "You guys check upstairs." The two nodded and jogged up the stairs with their flashlights and guns.

The Sergeant holstered his gun and approached the middle of the room. "Cover me, just in case," he told his partner.

The younger man nodded and followed his partner. Sitting in the middle of the room were three people, their hands and feet tied, and another rope tying them all together. Their heads were slumped forward, and each one wore a mask. One Darth Vader, one Darth Maul, the other a Storm Trooper. And taped to the chest of the one facing the door, was a piece of paper. The cop pulled the paper off and shined his light on it.

"Dear Police, these three men are the Star Wars bandits who have robbed six banks in LA in the last two months. In the basement you'll find all the evidence you need. Signed, The Scooby Gang." The older cop just shook his head. "Cute, real cute." He leaned down and pulled the Darth Maul mask off to reveal a young dark-haired man with duct tape over his mouth. He put his fingers against the base of his neck. "He's alive, just unconscious. Check the other two."

The younger cop holstered his weapon and checked on the other two. "Same here, they're out cold."

"Hey Sarge, we got a body up here," One of the other cops called from the second floor.

"And two more on the third floor," the other one called out, coming down another set of stairs.

The Sergeant just shook his head and turned to his partner. "I hate weeks that start like this. Call it in."

8888888888888

"And now the news. The famed Star Wars bandits that have been terrorizing Los Angeles area banks for the last few months, have been captured. Warren Meers, age 21, Jonathan Levinson, age 20, and Andrew Wells, also age 20. Police say they were found bound and gagged in an abandoned building in the small suburb of Sunnydale, along with a note identifying them as the robbers. Police have confirmed that the three men are indeed the culprits, but the identity of whoever captured them or left the note is still unknown.

Also found in the building were the bodies of three individuals. One man has been identified as Christopher Rak, a local drug dealer. The identities of the other two bodies have not been released yet, nor the cause of death. Though the police suspect foul play. No word as to whether or not the Star Wars bandits have been implicated in the deaths, police are still questioning…"

Angel reached over from the passenger seat of his car and clicked the radio off. The car was parked on the small roadway that wove it's way through Peaceful Acres Cemetery, on a hill that over looked the graves of Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg. Wesley sat in the driver's seat, and Gunn sat in the back with the still-bound Amy. Angel adjusted the blanket over his head as he turned again to look at the window. Buffy was standing between the two graves, wearing a simple black dress. She had a distant look on her face. Anya was kneeling in front of Xander's grave, adjusting the flowers that rested by his headstone. Tara stood off to the side, her arm around Dawn, comforting her.

"I still can't believe he did it," Gunn said in a quiet voice.

"He did what he had to do, to safeguard those he loved," Wesley said, in an equally hushed voice.

"Does that include Willow?" Amy asked in a snotty voice.

Wesley turned to her. "Especially Willow."

Angel wasn't listening to the conversation around him though, his eyes stayed focused on Buffy. On the pained look on her face.

"There's nothing more we can do here, Angel," Wesley said.

Angel continued looking for a few more seconds before he nodded his head. He had a sudden urge to hold his son, and tell him that he loved him. Even though he knew the infant wouldn't understand. "Let's go."

Wesley started the engine, and the black convertible pulled away, unnoticed by the mourners below them.

888888888888888

Anya lifted the thin black veil she wore away from her face and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. She reached out and ran her fingers across Xander's name etched on the gravestone. It was a simple stone, with his name, the year of his birth and death, a cross, and a one-word epitaph. 'Beloved'. Willow's stone was virtually identical, except her epitaph read 'Forgiven', and a Star of David replaced the cross.

The dual service had ended hours ago, with the mourners going back to the Rosenbergs' house for a small reception. But the group of friends had stayed behind to pay their final respects.

Unseen by any of them, standing on a hill overlooking the graves were a man and a woman holding hands.

"Where are we?" the woman asked. "This isn't hell, and it certainly isn't heaven."

"Purgatory," the man speculated. "I'm not sure."

They watched as all the mourners except for one slowly walked back up the path toward their car. Buffy stayed, standing between the gravestones. Slowly she walked closer to them, and dropped to her knees. Suddenly the man the and woman found themselves no longer on the hill, but standing behind Buffy, in front of their graves.

Buffy just sat there for a few moments, looking like she was trying to find the right words. "There's just so much left unsaid," she finally said. "So much I wanted to tell you both. Xander, I…I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I'm sorry that I didn't see how important you were to me until it was too late. I'm sorry that I didn't go to you when I needed help, instead of pushing you away. I want you to know that I'm going to be a better parent to Dawn. I'm going to be there for her, no matter what. Because she needs me, now more than ever. I see that now. I just…I wish I could have seen you sooner. We could have made each other so happy. And I wish that I had gotten the chance to tell you all of this to your face."

Buffy wiped her eyes and turned to the other stone. "Willow, I…" she paused. "I can't say how sorry I am, for what happened to you. For not seeing what was happening to you sooner. For not being there when you needed me. For not being able to save you. I forgive you Willow. And I hope that you can forgive me."

Buffy laid her hand flat against Willow's gravestone, and the other hand against Xander's. "I can't do this without you guys," she said, her tears coming again. "I already miss you both so much. I…I don't think I can do this." Buffy's head fell and she started sobbing.

"I think I know why we're here," Xander said softly. Willow just nodded. Together they stepped forward, still holding each other's hand. They each placed their other hand on Buffy's shoulders.

"I love you both," Buffy sobbed.

"We love you, too," Willow and Xander said simultaneously.

Buffy wasn't consciously aware of their touch, or their words. But somewhere deep inside, she could feel them. And she knew that she would go on. Because they would always be with her, in her heart.

The End


End file.
